Exposed!
by Jenna's Rules
Summary: “We’re in too deep, now.” “Haven’t we always been?” A reporter visits Blake Holsey only to learn of its mysteries. References to 'Things Just get Complicated' pts 1 & 2
1. Prologue

AN: Well, here's that new story I promised. I would have had it out sooner, but unfortunately, the internet was down at my house, and the only time I could put it up was during lunch at school, which isn't exactly easy, so I had to wait until the internet at my house was up and running again. Unfortunately, I just got a job and I start next week, so I will have a harder time getting updates up, but I will try really hard. And I do have the rest of this week off, so I will hopefully get to chapter three, lol. Please REVIEW!

PAIRINGS: Josie/Lucas, Corrine/Marshall, Professor Z/OC

SUMMARY NOTE: While this may carry some references to my previous stories, 'Things Just Get Complicated' and 'Things Just Get Complicated Pt. II', this is on a very different wavelength. It will carry some references that were in them, which is probably why I'd recommend reading the previous stories before this, but I supposed anyone can get by without reading them.

SUMMARY: When a reporter visits Blake Holsey to interview certain students on the new addition to the science center, she receives a much bigger story in the form of Blake Holsey's mysteries. With the secrets revealed, the Science Club have to work together to save Blake Holsey from the destructive powers of society today. (No political viewpoints or anything like that. Strictly Blake Holsey. Also, this takes place in season three).

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Strange Days at Blake Holsey high, the only thing I do own are my original characters. But thanks to the creator's for such a mad awesome show!

PROLOGUE

Corrine bounded down the hall, stopping at the base of the stairs where her four friends, Lucas, Josie, Vaughn, and Marshall sat, discussing something that, to her, seemed trivial.

"Guess what!" She exclaimed.

Josie Trent looked up with remote surprise. She could have sworn that Corrine had been outside the whole time they were there. She had left Corrine out there in the middle of lunch to follow her boyfriend, Lucas, to see the new device Lucas was continually trying to get her to look at … a device that could possibly predict activation of the wormhole. On their way in they had run into Vaughn – whom they were getting along with, finally – and Marshall, the two of them having a long conversation about a video game the two were working on. And so they had settled down on the stairs while everyone else was either inside or out, and began to get involved in the conversation as well …. Forgetting temporarily about Corrine.

Marshall moved over on the steps so that Corrine could sit next to him, which she did gratefully. The two had just gotten over another one of their little 'spats', and were now in their 'we like each other so much' mode. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and quickly encouraged her to continue.

"I just got some really good news," Corrine continued, once she was comfortable.

"What?" Vaughn asked, looking interested. Out of everyone, Vaughn was the outsider of the group, and it was easy to see why. With Josie and Lucas hooked up, and then Corrine and Marshall, he sometimes felt like the third wheel. Still, when they weren't convinced he was secretly working against them, they welcomed Vaughn's presence greatly, despite the couplings.

"Electron Magazine is sending a representative here to write up an article on Blake Holsey's Science labs," Corrine said with a wide grin.

"Whoa, science labs?" Josie said, looking uncomfortable. "How do we know it isn't Pearadyne's way of trying to find out the secret of the wormhole?"

Lucas laughed at the joke, taking her hand in his. "I doubt it," he said with humor in his voice.

Corrine also chuckled. "No, it's more like they want to do a piece on the curriculum. Apparently Blake Holsey's test scores in science are in the top ten, and the magazine is really interested in it. Not to mention how science-related this school is. It's caught their attention."

"How did you hear about this?" Vaughn asked.

"Principal Durst came up to a few moments ago and told me about it," Corrine replied. "Apparently they're also interested in interviewing the science club."

"Hold on," Marshall said. "They want to interview _us_?"

Corrine nodded. "They'll be sending a representative sometime this weekend, so nobody make any plans."

"There goes that movie we wanted to see," Lucas said and Josie shrugged.

"There's always next weekend, I guess," She said. Then she grinned, looking back at him. "Since we're not going anywhere this weekend, we can finally get around to those skateboarding lessons I've been meaning to give you."

Marshall made a face, looking at Corrine and Vaughn who were trying to hold in a laugh, while Lucas tried not to look too nervous, though he'd paled considerably.

"Sure," He said, almost through clenched teeth. "Sounds fun."

"Yeah," Marshall said. "I'm betting he falls down at least five times."

"Seven," Corrine reluctantly admitted.

"Ten," Josie said with a bob of her head.

Lucas gave her a playful poke in the arm. "Hey!" He exclaimed indignantly.

Josie shrugged. "Sorry Lucas. It's just that I've seen you on _roller skates_, and honestly? It's not pretty."

"Thanks," Lucas said, rolling his eyes.

"I say he'll only fall three times," Vaughn said thoughtfully. Everyone looked at him with surprise, but he just grinned.

"You're on," Josie said after a minute. "Should we make it … winner cleans all bedrooms for a week?"

"Okay," Vaughn said reassuringly. He leaned back against the wall, and Josie turned back to Corrine.

"So who is this reporter, anyways?" She asked.

"I'm not sure," Corrine replied. "But I think we should all agree right now to be careful of what we say. We don't want to risk anyone finding out about the wormhole or anything like that."

"Like we would. Come on Corrine, you don't really think we would blow the secret, do you?" Josie asked.

"No," Corrine said. "I'm just saying be careful of what you say."

"We've kept things a secret this long, haven't we?" Marshall asked; his mouth now full of a sandwich. He had brought his lunch with him to the staircase, and had only actually begun to eat it now.

"Don't speak with your mouth full," Corrine chastised. Marshall quickly swallowed before giving his girlfriend a sheepish grin.

"Sorry," He murmured.

"Oh, Vaughn," Josie said, looking back. "Do you have my CD yet?"

"Nope, I haven't gotten around to burning it, yet. But as soon as I do, I'll get it back," He replied.

"Okay," Josie said, turning back.

"Miss. Trent," A sharp voice said. The others looked up to see Durst heading towards them. Josie frowned in confusion, unable to recall any incident in which Principal Durst would have any reason to be mad with her. "A word?"

Josie got up slowly, looking back at her friends before approaching Durst. Instead of addressing Josie, though, Durst continued to look at the others.

"Is something wrong, Principal Durst?" Vaughn asked.

"As a matter of fact," Durst said, her voice seemingly uptight. "I don't think it's appropriate to be taking up the stairs like that. What if someone needed to come through? Move along."

The others did as she suggested, quickly standing and moving away to finish their conversations in the science lab. Corrine and Lucas quickly looked back at Josie. She gave them a reassuring smile, and they continued on. Slowly Josie turned back to Principal Durst.

The woman was scrutinizing her. "Miss. Trent," She said carefully. "We have a special visitor coming this weekend -."

"Oh, Corrine mentioned it to me," Josie said, quickly gesturing to the seat she and her friends had occupied moments before. "Don't worry, principal Durst. I won't do anything wrong. I swear, I'll be the image of a good student."

"Well," Durst said, looking a little surprised, but smug, nonetheless. "That is very reassuring, but not what I wanted to speak with you about."

Josie looked at her with confusion. "Well then what _do_ you want?"

Durst straightened her back. "While we encourage our students to experiment, I don't exactly think this fits that description." She pulled a strangely shaped rock out of her pocket and handed it to Josie. "Please try to keep things like this out of sight while our visitor is here, will you?"

"Sure," Josie said, taking the strange thing into her hand. "But it's not mine."

"It isn't?" Durst asked, looking confused. "Well … I was sure …"

"Nope," Josie said, handing it back.

"Oh, keep it," Durst said dismissively, seeming confused. "I suppose you could go on your way, then."

"Thanks," Josie said, quickly pocketing the thing and nodding her head. "See you later!" She quickly turned and started off in the direction her friends had gone, leaving a remotely confused Durst standing there. She turned, and was surprised to see the janitor standing not too far behind her.

"Oh," She said. "You startled me."

"Sorry," He mumbled, quickly heading into another room with his broom. Durst looked at him curiously, but brushed it off as the janitor's usual behavior. She moved back towards her office, leaving the hallway empty once again.


	2. Chapter 1

AN: As I said, this takes place in the third season – the very end of it, actually. This is what takes the place of the original finale episode. Of course the third season in my story does have minor alterations to fit with it, but some of the plots that occurred remain the same. Any differences you'll notice hopefully in this chapter. And yes, I am aware that they are putting out three new eps called 'Conclusions'. I hear it's going to be put into movie format, and if Conclusions is that good, they may even put out a fourth season, so keep your eyes and ears open. Majorly excited about it, lol. Anyhoo, onward with the story.

CHAPTER ONE

_It's hard to really say when, exactly, things became dangerous at Blake Holsey Preparatory Academy. One could easily say it had been the day the reporter for Electron Magazine had decided to come visit. Some could even pinpoint it to the day the group learned of the visit. But perhaps things truly became dangerous at Blake Holsey the very same day Professor Middleton vanished from the science lab three years earlier, which set off a strange chain of events that could quite possibly have led up to the day the reporter came to the school._

_Whenever it all started could be a matter of debate, but to make things simple, we will say Blake Holsey became a dangerous school the day Molly Sletzki came into town to give what was supposed to be a simple interview on a simple small-town boarding school._

_Of course, it was anything but …_

"Josie!"

The red-head hadn't exactly expected to see the look of anger on her best friend (and roommate)'s face as she stalked towards her from what appeared to be the science office. Josie winced, just waiting to hear what it was she had done this time.

"What's wrong?" She called. Corrine, however, waited until she was right next to Josie to explain.

"Aside from the disaster you left our room in?" Corrine demanded.

"I didn't leave any -."

"Josie, I just came from there!" Corrine snapped, looking greatly annoyed. She took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, before meeting Josie's gaze. Behind her Lucas and Vaughn came closer to get a better hold of what was wrong. "Look, I know you have this system thing of yours, but when that system crosses over to my side of the room … well it doesn't sound fair, does it?"

"I haven't been any more chaotic than usual," Josie said in her defense.

"Then why did I find _this_," Corrine paused to pull the shirt up from her side where she'd been clenching it, "on my bed when I came back to the room this morning? Not to mention all of your other stuff, which is thrown all over my side of the room."

"Corrine, I haven't even been in our room since breakfast," Josie snapped. She looked back at Lucas and Vaughn. "Tell her."

"She's right," Lucas said, clearing his throat. "After breakfast we all came out here to throw some ball some ball around."

"And you and I both left for breakfast at the same time," Josie finished.

It was Corrine's turn to be shocked. "So … someone else was in our room …?" She asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

Josie suddenly frowned at that, as well. "Going through my things," She finished. Her fists clenched and she made a face. "Alright, when I find out whoever it is I'm gonna hit them so far -."

"Hey guys!" Marshall called, quickly running to their side. "What's going on?"

"Apparently someone snuck into Josie and Corrine's room," Lucas filled in.

"How do you know?" Marshall asked with confusion.

"Josie's stuff is all over my side of the room," Corrine replied.

"Okay … and this is different from when?" Marshall inquired. Corrine gave him a little nudge. "You know Josie keeps her mess on her side of the room," She replied.

"No offense, but why would anyone want to go through a bunch of Josie's things?" Marshall countered. "Is the destructive convention in town?"

"Not funny," Josie grumbled. She looked at Corrine. "Did it seem as if anything was missing?"

"I didn't notice," Corrine admitted, looking a little embarrassed. "I was too focused on how mad I was at you. Sorry."

"Well I'll just check it out," Josie said with a shrug.

"I'll come with you," Lucas spoke up.

Josie nodded and the two quickly walked off as Vaughn approached Corrine and Marshall.

"You don't think someone thought she might have something Black Hole related, do you?" He asked, looking concerned.

"No," Corrine said, looking at him. "Who else would know?"

"You're Dad isn't up to something, is he?" Marshall asked, looking at Vaughn. "Josie doesn't have anything important to him?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Vaughn replied. "He keeps me out of the loop now that he knows." Vaughn was referring to a fight he and his Father had gotten in three weeks prior in which Vaughn had told him he wasn't going to be stuck choosing between his Father and his friends. To which Victor told him he had to. Seeing as how his friends hadn't exactly given him such an ultimatum, Vaughn said he chose them, and had moved back into his old room at Blake Holsey. Now he and Victor were hardly on speaking terms.

"Sorry, Vaughn," Corrine said, giving him a quick pat on the back in sympathy. "I know all this is really hard for you."

"Yeah, but at least I have you guys," Vaughn replied.

"If it's not Victor, then what do you think it is?" Marshall asked.

"I'm sure it's nothing … right?" Corrine asked, looking between the two boys. "I mean, we don't even know if something's missing. We're probably just jumping to conclusions here."

"Yeah," Marshall agreed. "It's probably nothing."

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It was, of course, nothing when Josie and Lucas finally went through everything. As far as they could tell everything was there. Still, there was no reason for someone to ransack her room, unless she had something someone wanted. Something she'd forgotten to give back, which Lucas suggested as they were walking back outside.

"Think, did you borrow anything?" Lucas asked.

"I don't remember," Josie snapped, looking darkly at Lucas. "Even if I did, it didn't give anyone a reason to just destroy my room. It's not fair to Corrine, either."

"I know," Lucas said quietly. "Hey, why don't we try skateboarding again? It might get your mind off things."

Josie grinned. "Yeah. I just know Vaughn's going to lose that bet."

"This is _my_ safety we're talking about here, remember?" Lucas asked, faking hurt.

"I know, I know," Josie said, taking his hand. "I also know you, and you tend to be a little clumsy on wheels."

"I guess," Lucas said. The two walked down the front side of the school just as someone in an old brown car pulled up. Both Lucas and Josie exchanged confused looks, but ignored it and continued onward.

The woman stepped out of the car, looking around quickly. She was dressed in a long skirt that went to her ankles and a purple sweater with a scarf hanging from her throat, despite how warm it was outside. Her long brown hair was left down, and there were golden earrings glinting in her ears. She caught sight of Josie and Lucas, and quickly grabbed her bag out of the car and swung it over her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" She called, starting for them. They both turned around with surprise. "Ah, thanks."

They walked back to her, exchanging confused looks. "Eh, who are you?" Lucas asked.

"Oh," The woman said, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm Molly Sletzki," She said, holding out her hand. "I'm here to do an interview for Electron Magazine on your science laboratories."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Josie said.

"Me too," Lucas replied.

"I didn't think many students were going to know," Ms. Sletzki said, looking confused.

"Well, I don't think they do," Josie said after a minute. "It's just that Lucas here and I are a part of the science club, so -."

"Ah!" Ms. Sletzki exclaimed, looking relieved. "So you could probably show me to the science room with no problem."

"No problem," Lucas said. Just follow us."

The group started back inside, Ms. Sletzki shifting through her bag without half a mind as to what was going on. Twice Josie had to quickly pull her out of the way of running into something. Finally she pulled out a camcorder, and pointed it at Josie.

"So how many of there are you? Science club members, I mean? There must be a lot."

"Not exactly," Josie said, glancing at Lucas out of the corner of her eyes. "It's just us and three others. Corrine Baxter, Marshall Wheeler, and Vaughn Pearson."

"Pearson?" Ms. Sletzki asked, looking up from the viewing glass of the camcorder.

"Yeah," Josie said. "Don't get me wrong, but aren't you here to _write_ an article? What's with the camcorder?"

"Huh?" Ms. Sletzki asked. Josie quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way of an opening door for the second time. "Oh, thanks. What did you ask? Oh yes. Well you see, it's easier to record things on here," She said, gesturing to the little thing. "Easier to remember exactly what it is you say without having to take too many notes. So you said Vaughn Pearson? Is he … is he related to Victor Pearson?"

"Yes," Josie said through clenched teeth.

"Amazing!" Ms. Sletzki exclaimed. "Victor Pearson is so _well-known_ in his field. Of course no one can be exactly sure of what it is he works on, he's so secretive. But the advances he's made alone – you know, he had a part in making the first laptop."

"Imagine that," Josie grumbled. "But you know, he could very well be working on the next atomic bomb."

"Oh no, not Victor Pearson," Ms. Sletzki said. "He's working for the betterment of the world."

"Sounds like you know him pretty well," Lucas said.

"Me? No," Ms. Sletzki said, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks. "I've just read so much about him. He's one of my heroes."

To this Josie scoffed. "I don't see why," She said.

"I've read his articles on particle acceleration, time travel … all of them. He sounds so intelligent and open-minded. Not like most scientists that you read about." She stopped to clear her throat. "But I'm sure that's of no interest to you."

"No," Josie said, giving a fake grin. "It's not."

"I'm sure it's hard to believe, but Victor Pearson's not exactly perfect," Lucas finished.

Ms. Sletzki frowned. "You've met him?"

"We-ell," Josie said, alarm quickly forming on her face. Both she and Lucas began to move quickly down the hall, not wanting to give much away. "Here's the science lab. I'm sure Professor Zachary's in there – oh, right there, in the back. See you."

She quickly turned to leave.

"Oh, but wait," Ms. Sletzki called. "I was hoping to interview you and your friends. For the article."

"Thanks, but no thanks. We've got stuff to do. Too bad, huh? Well I'm sure you could get Marshall and Corrine to talk to you."

She quickly moved away. Lucas murmured a goodbye to Ms. Sletzki, before following his girlfriend.

"Josie," He said, quickly catching up. "I really don't think that was such a good idea."

"And why not?" Josie demanded.

"I just think maybe it's a good idea to leave Victor Pearson out of this one. If we do the smiles, give a few statements, we'll have this reporter gone much sooner. I know you're worried she'll find something out -."

"It's a secret," Josie replied. "We can't risk anyone finding out."

"I know," Lucas said quietly. "But we don't want to catch her interest much, do we?"

"No," Josie agreed. "We'll just wait this thing out. Come on, we should probably tell the others."

"That Ms. Sletzki seems kind of like …" Lucas stopped.

"A space case?" Josie suggested.

Lucas laughed with a nod of his head. "Exactly."

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"Professor Zachary?" Ms. Sletzki asked, peering into the room.

Professor Z turned around, seeming startled. "Oh. Ms. Sletzki," He said, giving a smile. "I wasn't expecting you to show up until one at least."

"I headed out earlier than I should have," She said with a quick nervous smile. "I was excited, I guess. Most of the time I'm left writing articles and interviewing these boring scientists – not implying that you're going to be boring, or anything. I was thrilled to finally get something a little more interesting."

"I wouldn't figure a boarding school to be that interesting," Z said, adjusting his glasses as he walked forward.

"I've always sort of liked boarding schools," Ms. Sletzki said. Then she blushed. "I grew up in public school," She said, as if it explained her earlier statement.

"I suppose this school is more interesting than others," Z allowed. "Would you like to take a seat?"

"Oh, sure," Ms. Sletzki said, quickly sitting down. She pulled out her camcorder and turned it on, looking at Z. "I hope you don't mind. It's easier this way."

"No problem," Z said, quickly sitting across from her. "So what exactly would you like to know?"

"Just give me a few things. An outline of the curriculum, why you think Blake Holsey have some of the highest test scores in science in the whole country … anything that comes to mind, really."

"Alright. Well right now we're studying evolution."

"Really?"

"Yes. We're going over Darwin's history so the students can get some understanding of where this theory came from," Z told her.

"Could you tell me more about this? I want a record of your teaching style."

"Sure."

And so the two began their interview.

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"…And she thinks Victor Pearson is this great guy," Josie finished.

"Josie," Vaughn said; a little annoyance evident on his face. The science club members were standing around outside while Josie tried to teach Lucas to skateboard. He shocked all of them when he seemed to be doing rather well. He'd only fallen down twice, and they'd been out there for fifteen minutes already.

Although the reporter had shown some interest in speaking with them, Josie was still a bit peeved with the woman, and had decided to let her get the part with Z over before they spoke to her. Corrine had agreed with her, though not because she was wary of the woman as Josie was. She just wanted a little more time to prepare herself.

"Sorry," Josie said, quickly shooting Vaughn a shrug. Then she looked at Lucas who was now riding quickly for them. Each jumped out of the way, but he surprised them by flipping the skateboard over as he did a jump, and then landing on it just as the wheels hit the ground again. Josie narrowed her eyes suspiciously as he fishtailed around and came to a stop, flipping the board into his hands.

"Wait a minute," She said, walking quickly up to him. "You're not even wearing a helmet."

"Oops," Lucas said, quickly feeling at his head. Josie looked back at Corrine and Marshall, then Vaughn, who had a wide grin on his face.

"Ready to give up yet, Trent?" Vaughn asked.

"You two!" Josie exclaimed, suddenly spinning back to Lucas. She started jabbing her pointer finger in his chest. "You've been working together, haven't you?"

"Stop poking me!" Lucas exclaimed, quickly backing away and tripping over the curb, falling on his back.

"That's three times he's fallen, Josie. Looks like all of you lose," Vaughn said. Lucas quickly tossed him a dirty look.

Josie clenched her fists at her side. Marshall, trying to hide a chuckle, buried his face in Corrine's shoulder. She, however, also looked annoyed.

"I don't believe you two," She said.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked, sitting up, but trying to look innocent at the same time. He wasn't exactly pulling it off.

"Don't act like you don't know," Josie said sharply. "You do this _every_ time, Lucas! You and Vaughn set up that stupid bet, because Vaughn was teaching you how to skateboard!"

"Come on, Josie," Vaughn said. "Why would you think something as ridiculous as that?"

"He's confident enough not to wear a _helmet_?" Josie demanded. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before! Of course he knew how to skateboard. I bet he faked those falls the whole time."

"No, they were legit," Lucas said, rubbing his elbow which had been scraped up the last time he fell. "They wouldn't hurt so much if I'd faked them."

"Wait a minute," Corrine said, shrugging away from Marshall. "You knew about this."

Vaughn quickly shot Marshall, who was now laughing hysterically, a look that clearly said, 'tell, and you're a dead man'. Marshall either didn't see it, or didn't care, because through his laughter he managed to admit, "I saw them out here yesterday skateboarding while you two were in your rooms. They told me if I kept my mouth shut I wouldn't have to do any room cleaning."

Josie and Corrine now stood next to each other, looking annoyed. Marshall and Vaughn helped Lucas to his feet.

"I can't believe you took advantage of us like that," Corrine said.

"When I'm through with you, you're going to be begging for mercy," Josie said, cracking her knuckles.

"It was just for some fun," Lucas countered, wiping off his knees.

"The bets off," Corrine said.

"No fair!" Vaughn exclaimed.

"No fair?" Josie asked. "You three rigged it!"

"Oh, I didn't have any part in it," Marshall said quickly, looking almost pleadingly at Corrine.

"You could have told us," She told him.

"Alright, alright," Vaughn said. "We're sorry, okay. It was all just a joke, though, so we can let it go. The whole thing was my idea, anyway."

"Well, mine too," Lucas admitted. "I told Vaughn about how Josie wanted me to skateboard. I just didn't want to embarrass myself in front of you."

"So I said I'd secretly teach him. Then it turned into a bet. It all started out innocent enough," Vaughn finished.

"Everything does," Josie replied, shaking her head.

"Fine," Corrine said. "But because you tricked us, you have to clean up our room for two weeks."

"No fair! Have you seen Josie's side of the room?" Marshall demanded. "I'll be there's mold in there _somewhere_!"

"You'll only have one week instead of two," Josie assured him.

He still looked as if he would protest, but the look Corrine gave him made him quickly drop it. He muttered 'fine' and then looked at Vaughn and Lucas. They mumbled an 'okay' as well … it did sound fair. Perhaps a little harsh, but they should have known better.

"And Corrine's not going to make it easy, either. No meticulous cleaning," Josie instructed. Corrine grinned.

"I'll try," She promised. "You guys can start with the mess in there from earlier."

"Can we take care of that thing with the reporter, first?" Marshall asked, sounding hopeful.

Josie and Corrine exchanged a thoughtful glance, but then they both nodded. "Might as well get it over with," Josie said.

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"Professor Z?" Josie asked, walking into the room followed by the rest of the science club. She stopped to see Professor Z and Ms. Sletzki enjoying a cup of coffee. The two looked up.

"Oh, there you are," Z said, quickly standing up with a wide grin. "This is Ms. Sletzki from Electron Magazine. She was hoping to ask you guys a few questions."

"Z's having coffee with a girl?" Vaughn whispered with confusion to Marshall. The other boy grinned, rubbing his hands together before patting Vaughn on the back.

"That just leaves you, Vaughn," He said, before starting into the room, leaving Vaughn to close the door. Ms. Sletzki stood, holding her hand out to Corrine, who was the closest to her.

"Hello," She said.

"Hi. I'm Corrine. That's Josie, Lucas, Vaughn and Marshall."

"Nice to meet you all," Ms. Sletzki said with a little bow. She went to sit again, but hit the edge of the chair and fell to the floor. "Oh!" She exclaimed. Corrine and Z were quickly at her side, helping her up.

"Sure, help _her_ when she falls," Lucas mumbled. Josie shot him a dirty look, and then moved forward.

"Would it be possible to get this over with? The boys here have some work to get to."

The guys quickly looked down at this. Z caught it, and though confused, didn't say anything. Instead he turned his attention back to Ms. Sletzki.

"Are you alright, Molly?" He asked.

"I'm fine, thank you. Noel here was just telling me all about you," She said, smiling politely at the students.

"First name basis," Marshall whispered in a sing song voice. Vaughn quickly punched him lightly in the arm. "Oww," He muttered.

Corrine quickly sat next to Ms. Sletzki, as did Josie, followed by Lucas, Marshall, and finally Vaughn. "What exactly did you want to know?" Corrine asked, seeming interested.

"Oh, hold on a minute," Ms. Sletzki replied, pulling out her camcorder. At Corrine's confused look, Josie, Professor Z, and Ms. Sletzki all chimed, "It's easier to remember things this/that way."

Ms. Sletzki blushed lightly. "I didn't think you'd been paying attention," She admitted. Then she cleared her throat with a nervous laugh. "Why don't we get started, then? I don't want to hold you kids up. What's the best part of the Science Club?"

"Hanging with our friends," Lucas spoke up.

"I hear you there," Marshall said, and the two quickly did a hand shake.

"Boys," Corrine said, rolling her eyes. Ms. Sletzki chuckled.

"Alright. But aside from that?"

"Learning about science," Vaughn spoke up. Then off of everyone's look, he continued, "I mean, I always thought it was this really boring thing. But since I've been in the science club, it just seems a lot more interesting."

"What's you favorite subject?"

"Magnets," Vaughn said, looking at Josie with a grin. She frowned back at him. "That was a very … interesting lesson."

"I thought the power of the human brain was pretty cool," Marshall said, taking Corrine's hand. She nodded her head in agreement.

"What about culturing?" Lucas said, looking pointedly at Josie.

"Yes, genetics seem to have such an interesting hold over us," Josie agreed, momentarily forgetting she was mad at him.

Professor Z cleared his throat, while Ms. Sletzki looked at him with interest. "They seem to really know what they're talking about," She said with an excited smile. "You must have taught it all so well."

"Well," Z said, trying not to look embarrassed.

A beeping sound began to go off, and the group jumped up.

"The gravity device!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Everyone back up," Josie said quickly, moving things out of the way.

"The gravity device?" Ms. Sletzki asked with confusion.

"Move!" Professor Z exclaimed, trying to pull her away just as the wormhole opened up, quickly pulling things in at random. Ms. Sletzki gasped, quickly covering her mouth, her hair flying all over the place from the rush of wind conducted by the wormhole.

Corrine gasped as she was suddenly pulled into the wormhole just as she had been the first day.

"Corrine!" Josie and Marshall exclaimed. Except Marshall reached her before Josie could and both were sucked in the wormhole. It closed, trapping them inside. The papers that had been flying around the room began to settle as everyone stared at the now solid spot on the floor.

And then Ms. Sletzki sucked in some air, and let out a horrified scream.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

_And then Ms. Sletzki sucked in some air, and let out a horrified scream …_

After a moment the cry stopped, and she took in a shuddering breath, her hands and arms shaking, before she quickly began to scream again. Professor Z covered her mouth.

"Why does that stupid thing open up at the most inconvenient times?" Josie demanded.

"Tha-that _thing_?" Ms. Sletzki stammered, pulling away from Professor Z. "That thing just took your friends! What is it!"

"It's a wormhole," Lucas said, looking thoughtful.

"Like … like, _outer space_ wormhole? But, but, but …" Her eyes were darting around frantically, her mind trying to grasp this bit of information.

"Molly, maybe you should take a seat and -," Professor Zachary started.

"Don't touch me!" Ms. Sletzki exclaimed, pulling away. "All of you just, just _stay away from me_!" She pulled up her bag and pocketed her camcorder without a second thought, before heading for the door.

"Ms. Sletzki, maybe you could just -."

"Don't you _talk_ to me, either!" She snapped. "We'll just, just forget about this whole thing, okay?" She quickly hurried out of the room, right past Durst. The principal seemed shocked.

"Professor Zachary, what is -?"

"Could you just stay here a moment?" Professor Zachary asked, quickly following after Ms. Sletzki, Josie on his heels.

"But I heard a scream!" Principal Durst protested.

"Just let it go," Vaughn said quietly.

"We've got … everything under control," Lucas added, though not sounding too convincing.

"Ms. Sletzki, just a moment," Professor Z started, the three of them now in the parking lot. Ms. Sletzki was already halfway to her car.

She spun on her heels, looking back at him and Josie. "Did you know about it? Did you?"

"Well, yes, but -."

"Oh my god," Ms. Sletzki said, clutching her head and looking a little woozy.

"But it's not a serious thing. I mean, it _is_, but -," Josie started.

"It's not _serious_?" Ms. Sletzki snapped. "Did you see what it did to those kids?"

"I've been through it before," Josie said, trying to sound reassuring. It only made Ms. Sletzki panic more. She looked accusingly at Professor Z.

"You just let your students go through a spin-y, vortex … _thing_?"

"It's not like that," Professor Z protested.

"Oh, sure it isn't," Ms. Sletzki snapped sarcastically. She threw open her car door and climbed in, quickly fiddling when her skirt got caught in the door. She ripped it away, not caring if there was now a cut in it, she was too frightened.

"Look, if you could try not to tell anyone," Josie began, before Ms. Sletzki cut her off with her horrified look. Eyes were wide open, jaw dropped.

"Those kids could be ripped apart, and you won't _tell_ anyone? No wonder my parents never let me go to a boarding school … you're all _crazy_!" She quickly threw the car in reverse and skidded backwards. Then she put it into drive and drove furiously off.

Josie looked at Professor Z worriedly. "What are we going to do?" She asked.

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Corrine, still holding Marshall's hand, fell to the floor of wherever it was they landed. She drew in a sharp breath, before looking at Marshall.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"Fine," He replied, catching his breath. He looked around. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure," Corrine replied. "It's too dark." The room was entirely plunged in darkness, the only thing the two could make out in the darkness was each other, and that's because they were so close.

"Is there a light switch around here, somewhere?" Marshall asked, standing up and pulling Corrine with him.

"It depends on where 'here' is," Corrine grunted as she was pulled over to wherever Marshall was leading her.

After a few seconds the room lit up, temporarily blinding the two.

"Marshall!" Corrine exclaimed.

"It wasn't me," He mumbled. He blinked for a few moments, and then glanced around the room. "Hey!"

Corrine followed his gaze and looked to see the janitor leaning against the wall. She frowned, before looking at Marshall, who was looking at her.

"You're not supposed to be here," The janitor said, looking darkly at the two.

"This is why we were just leaving. Let's go, Corrine, he's creeping me out." He started to pull Corrine back to the center of the room, but she stopped and looked back at the janitor.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"It's the science room," Marshall replied, looking around. Then he looked at the janitor. "Why won't it open up? The wormhole, I mean."

The janitor shrugged. "What wormhole?" He asked.

"You're not seriously going to play that game with us right now, are you -?" Corrine was quickly cut off.

"I'm not playing any game," The janitor said, taking a step forward before repeating, "You're not supposed to be here."

"So open the wormhole and let us go back," Marshall said through clenched teeth.

"I can't let you do that. Not now, at least," The janitor replied.

"Look, there's a reporter there, and if we don't get back there she is going to _flip_ on us, okay? So just open the wormhole and send us back." Then he stopped to think. "What year are we in, anyways?"

"1987," The janitor replied.

"It's not the night of the Pearadyne accident, is it?" Corrine countered, looking nervous.

"No," the janitor replied. "One night prior, actually. And you're going to interfere, which is _not_ acceptable."

"He's lost it," Marshall whispered to Corrine. Then he straightened up. "So, we aren't supposed to be here, yet you won't let us go. Would you mind explaining to us what exactly is going on?"

"Follow me," The janitor said stiffly, opening the door and stepping out. Corrine and Marshall exchanged a look before following him.

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Lucas buried his hand in his hands, looking up as Josie paced the floor angrily. "Are you _sure_ she won't tell anyone?"

"Who can be sure _what_ she will do," Josie replied. She looked over at Vaughn. "What did you tell Durst?"

"Eh … I told her you played a trick on her, and now Ms. Sletzki was mad at us," Vaughn said. Josie stared at him in surprise.

"You what?" She demanded.

"Well what else was he going to say? She saw a wormhole and freaked out?" Lucas demanded. "Why don't we try and relax, okay? She said that she'd forget it happened."

"Yeah, well that was before she found out this has happened before," Josie said, slumping into a seat.

"You _told_ her?" Lucas demanded with surprise.

"Well I figured she'd clam down a little if she saw how fine I was," Josie said in her defense.

"I've tried to call her three times, but her phone's turned off," Z said, walking into the room. "Any ideas as to what to do about Corrine and Marshall?"

"Lucas figures that we should monitor the gravity device, and as soon as it opens up, we should go back for them," Josie said.

"I don't think so," Professor Z replied. "We're not about to have the three of you jump through time so that you could end up anywhere – you might not even find Corrine and Marshall. Alright, Lucas will monitor the gravity device. When it goes off again, we will try sending a camera through to see where it ends up. Josie and Vaughn, while Lucas and I are doing that, I believe the two of you should try to work on the Ms. Sletzki thing. Try and get in touch with her, alright?"

The three mumbled an 'agreed', and then separated off into little groups to work on their assigned bits.

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"Molly!" Someone called. Ms. Sletzki froze, startled out of her shock-induced walk. She slowly turned around to see one of her co-workers heading towards her.

"Christian?" She asked with confusion, stopping and letting him catch up.

"Hey, back from that interview so soon? How'd it go?" Then after a moment of looking Molly over, he frowned. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"No-nothing," She stammered. She took her bag off and draped it over a chair before rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Not nothing – I know that look. How bad could it have gone at a school?" Christian asked. Ms. Sletzki frowned, looking at him.

"I want to show you something." She pulled out the camcorder. "It's the video tape of the interview, and you are _not_ going to believe it." She set it on the table and hit the 'rewind' button, waiting for it to begin. After a moment it stopped, and she hit 'play'.


	4. Chapter 3

AN: Oops. Sorry. I wrote this chapter last week, and I never got around to finishing the Corrine and Marshall part, below, so that's why it's taken a while. I just remembered it now. Anyhoo, enjoy, and please review.

CHAPTER THREE

Marshall shook his head. "I just don't get it," He said. "Out of all the things he could do, why did he have to lock us in here?"

"Without an explanation, as always," Corrine scowled, looking around the dank room that belonged to the janitor. Not only was it dark, it was cold. Corrine rubbed her arms together with a frown.

"I have a feeling we'll be stuck here for a while. There's no way Professor Z would let the others come through," Marshall commented. "They won't come with him knowing, anyways."

"I don't want them to come," Corrine admitted. "I mean, I want to get out of here like any normal person would, but it's not like we're in any real danger."

"I guess so," Marshall agreed. He kicked at the strange bed. "I just want to go back home. And what's with all those cryptic messages he gives us? 'You're not supposed to be here, but you can't go back'? I'm getting annoyed with all this."

"He's helped out before, though," Corrine replied. "Maybe the wormhole just won't open up. The janitor always has his reasons. Right now let's focus on the fact that we'll be getting home shortly. We just have to wait until the wormhole opens up again. I'm sure he'll come and get us."

"I don't like this," Marshall muttered. "I don't like this one bit. We don't even know what's going on."

"Marshall, sit down. Stop pacing, you're driving me crazy."

"I will not sit down. I'm supposed to be the man in this relationship, and I will not stand for -."

"Marshall, sit down," Corrine said, holding back a laugh. She caught his wrist and pulled him down next to her. "We'll get out of here. Let's just try and enjoy this while we can, ok?"

Marshall looked up with a frown at the room. "It's too small in here," He stated. "What could he possibly hide in here? What secrets could he possess?"

"Marshall …?"

"I've got it! Corrine, I know how to pass the time!"

"I can't wait to hear this."

"Let's get a good look at some of the stuff the janitor keeps down here. It could possibly tell us what he's up to," Marshall said.

Corrine, although eager to know as well, rolled her eyes. "I doubt that he would keep anything that could tell us what he's up to down here," She replied. She glanced around the room, her eyes taking everything in. After a moment, they darted back to the bookcase. "Wait a minute," She said, frowning. "That's Josie's."

"What is?" Marshall asked with confusion, following Corrine's gaze. She stood and picked up the strange object. "Corrine, that's a rock."

"I know, but it's the same rock that Josie had the other day. She said Durst thought it was hers – something she'd made in the lab."

"You can't be sure it's the same rock," Marshall pointed out.

"Yes it is," Corrine said after a moment of looking it over. "Josie scratched her name into it." She showed it to Marshall.

"Well … this is an interesting discovery."

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_Now Blake Holsey Prep had long been a school of establishment. It was always seen as a proper place for teenagers to be turned into respectable men and women of the world. So when rumors begin to spread about a prestigious boarding school, well, people get nervous. And who's to deny such rumors when they turn out to be fact? Is it possible that after a place is completely destroyed, it is able to rebuild? When the truth is revealed to the world, trials will follow, partnerships will form, and things will change. The question is: will it be enough to handle?_

The students were awake with whispers of gossip, words of what was going on. The noise of excited voice had reached dorm rooms of students sleeping in. Josie stirred, finally waking up after a long night of troubled sleeping. She kept having nightmares of Corrine and Marshall being trapped endlessly in the wormhole.

She slowly climbed out of bed, stretching out. There had been no sign of the wormhole opening up at all yesterday, and seeing as how Corrine's bed was empty, Josie knew she still hadn't returned. Hopefully the gravity device may show some sign of wormhole activity over the night. As for Ms. Sletzki, well, neither she nor Vaughn, both pretending to be Pearadyne Industries, could get in touch with her. Josie was praying that perhaps today they would be more successful.

She moved her stuff out of the way and turned on the radio, hoping it would get her in a better mood. With the rush of music flooding through her, she felt almost ready to face another day of Blake Holsey. She threw open the window shade, and then started for her closet.

She paused a moment, and then ran back to the window, looking outside where tons of television reporters were standing around. Her jaw dropped in disbelief, and then she turned, stalking out of the room, hardly caring if she was only in her pajamas and her feet being bare. She flew down the stairs, ignoring the strange looks. She was stalking down the hall when someone grabbed onto her arm and jerked her in a room.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, only to be quieted by Lucas' "Shh!"

"What's going on?" She demanded.

Lucas frowned, stepping away and over to the windows, lifting a shade and looking out. "A ton of television stations and news reporters are out there," He said softly.

"Why?" Josie demanded, her hands on her hips. "What are they looking for?"

"You obviously haven't heard the news," Lucas said, looking back.

"What's wrong?" Josie asked, hurrying to his side.

"Our close friend Ms. Sletzki showed the video tape of yesterday's events to several news channels across the country. Now everyone wants to know about what _really_ goes on at Blake Holsey. They're especially interested in your comment about how you've been through the wormhole before," Lucas explained.

"She didn't even have that stupid camera out!" Josie protested.

"It was still on, though," Lucas explained.

"This is bad," Josie said, shaking her head.

"This is worst than bad, this is a disaster. And there's still no sign of Corrine and Marshall, so we can't exactly pass it off as one big joke."

"Nothing from the gravity device?" Josie asked, slightly depressed. Lucas shook his head. "That's it; I'm going to make that stupid wormhole open up."

"How do you plan to do that?" Lucas asked, seeming amused.

"I haven't figured it out yet," Josie said. She shook her head. "I had so many nightmares last night; I hardly got any sleep until after five."

Lucas took her hand sympathetically. "Me too. It was weird. Stuff like Corrine and Marshall getting stuck in the accident at Pearadyne."

Josie looked at him, surprised. "Me too," She said. "At least they're together, though. Lucas, we need to come up with a plan. And we're going to have to fix … this."

"What are you going to do? Give the reporters a knuckle sandwich?" Lucas asked.

"To get them off our backs? Yes. This whole thing is such a disaster," Josie said.

Lucas sighed. "It's been worst. Take last week, for instance. When you got stuck with Blake Holsey. You're lucky we managed to find you – and that nobody got trapped in the process."

"Vaughn almost did," Josie pointed out. "If he'd been a second later, he would have."

"Yeah, but we got out of it. Now we just need a way to get out of this," Lucas explained.

"While getting Corrine and Marshall back," Josie added. "Next time the wormhole opens up, I'm going through."

"No, you're not."

Both looked over to see that Professor Z had entered the room, neither having noticed.

"Professor Z, can you believe what's going on out there?" Josie demanded. Z flipped on the lights and sat down, rubbing his eyes.

"It is unfortunate," He admitted. "I figured Ms. Sletzki to be much more reliable than that. However, she did have quite a scare, it's understandable."

"What are we going to do?" Josie asked; she and Lucas taking a seat next to Z.

"I don't know," Professor Z replied. "One can hope all this will blow over shortly. Anyone can accuse it of being a fake tape."

"Have you seen it, yet?" Lucas asked.

"No, not yet," Professor Z admitted.

"The kids were watching it in the foyer," Lucas said, licking his lips. "If those could pass for special effects, then they are pretty convincing special effects."

"Then it's worst than I thought," Z said with a frown. "Any news on Corrine and Marshall?"

"No," Josie said. "And if there isn't any soon, I'm going to find them myself."

"Now Josie, we can't just jump into this. We have to be reasonable about it."

"They could be in danger," Josie replied.

"Josie, I want you to promise me you won't do anything rash," Professor Z said. "We don't need another student lost in time and space, especially not now."

"He's right. The press will be suspicious," Lucas agreed. "Right now, we have to lay low and hope that they'll return on their own."

"Yes," Professor Z agreed. "This could be like the time you went to the future."

"Maybe," Josie said, sounding reluctant. "Still, I'm going to check some old history books on Blake Holsey, maybe I'll find them in a picture, or something."

"What will we do about they press?" Lucas asked.

"We could try scaring them away for now," Josie said, a grin beginning to spread across her face. "That will earn us enough time to do some research without them on our backs."

"Do you have anything in mind?" Lucas asked.

"Not yet," Josie said. "But maybe if we set off something, they'd be forced to go away for a bit. Any word on how Durst is handling this?"

"I heard she's been calling Mr. Pearson's office all morning," Lucas said.

Josie sighed. "This would be so much easier if Corrine and Marshall were here."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed quietly.

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Molly Sletzki had been up for at least five minutes before the news hit her. She was in the middle of making some coffee when she turned on the TV to check the news, and the first thing she saw was Blake Holsey Prep. Her jaw dropped in surprise, and she practically fainted right in the kitchen, fortunately managing to catch onto the nearest chair. She sunk into it, staring at the television screen in practical horror.

"And the reports are still coming in about this boarding school behind me, which has apparently been responsible for some strange occurrences, if we've learned correctly. While the school refuses to allow any spokespersons or interviews, we have learned through some phone calls that the strange vortex seen in earlier footage is not the only unusual thing that has happened. Reports of things out of the ordinary ranging from sponges – a sea life form – growing entirely throughout the school, students were becoming almost zombie-like after eating a certain nutrient bar, and much more. Apparently, this is a school for the strange as news keeps coming in, we will keep you updated."

"Oh no," Ms. Sletzki said. She quickly turned off the television and climbed to her feet. After snatching up her keys and sliding on a jacket and shoes she left the apartment.

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Needless to say, when Ms. Sletzki came into the science lab after sneaking in through the side door, everyone was pretty much shocked. They all stared at each other, Ms. Sletzki shocked that she'd walked right into them, and they were shocked that she was even there. Finally, Josie jumped up, pointing an accusing finger in Ms. Sletzki's direction.

"You!" She exclaimed. "How dare you show up here!"

"Now Josie-."

"Cut it, Professor Z. She sold us out," Josie snapped.

"Why did you do that?" Lucas demanded. "I thought you said you wouldn't tell anyone."

"I didn't," Ms. Sletzki snapped. Then she sighed, walking further into the room. "The only person I told was my cousin, Christian. He works with me at the magazine. I just needed to tell someone, and I thought I could trust him."

"So … your cousin told? How did you not know?" Josie inquired.

"I don't even know if it was Christian. I'd trust him with my life, and I just can't understand why he would go to the press about this." She slumped into a chair. "After I showed him the footage, I told him not to tell anyone. I just wanted to forget about that whole scene yesterday. But when I woke up and saw that report on the television … I knew I couldn't just let it go. It's my fault you're in this mess, and while I may not understand your reasoning, I want to help."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Josie asked.

"The fact that I'm willing to try and help you despite yesterday should be enough," Ms. Sletzki snapped.

Josie crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't like this," She said.

"She's only trying to help," Professor Z replied.

"How did your cousin get your camera?" Lucas demanded.

Ms. Sletzki suddenly frowned. After a moment she groaned and rested her head on the table. She muttered a reply, to which the group leaned in closer, hoping to get a better grip on what she had said.

"Huh?" Josie asked.

"I left it in my office," Ms. Sletzki admitted.

No one noticed as the door opened and someone slipped inside.

"Well right now we have to worry about the press, so there's no reason in pointing the blame anywhere," Professor Z said. "We need to come up with a plan."

"And fast," The figure spoke. Everyone looked to see Vaughn leaning against the doorway. "My Dad's on his way here."


	5. Chapter 4

AN: Yea, I know, I know. This is a quick note to apologize for not updating in a long time, but everything's been so hectic, and I finally can write, so I'm hopefully gonna finish this, so wish me luck! Here's chapter four

CHAPTER FOUR

When Victor Pearson stepped out of his car and onto the parking lot out front of Blake Holsey, he was bombarded by new reporters. He was fortunate, managing to push through the overbearing crowd and make it to the front of the school without too much trouble. He ignored the calls he was receiving from the reporters and pushed inside the building, the door being slammed shut by two teachers put in charge of guarding it. Principal Durst stepped out of her office as Mr. Pearson marched towards her.

"What is the meaning of this, Amanda?" He demanded. "Where did that footage come from?"

"Oh, well, it appears to be in the science office, Mr. Pearson. You know how it's had a history of -." Victor pushed past her, walking hastily down the hall towards where the science room was. Principal Durst hurried after him.

He pushed open the door to see everyone staring at him - Lucas and Josie sitting on one of the tables, Professor Zachary at his desk with Ms. Sletzki across from him. Vaughn stood by the chalk board, watching his Father closely.

Principal Durst stepped up next to Victor, and looked around. "Oh Dear," She murmured.

"Miss Trent," Victor said after he'd studied the group in front of him for a few moments. "No doubt you are somehow behind this."

Josie narrowed her eyes at him, Lucas putting his arm around her shoulder. She stepped away from him, however, and looked Victor Pearson in the eye. "Surprisingly, no."

"Maybe someone should explain everything," Lucas said, stepping between the two, knowing Josie was anxious for a showdown. "Then we can try and come up with a plan."

"I wouldn't mind knowing exactly why a wormhole opened up in here," Victor said, looking over at Vaughn. The boy fidgeted.

"It's always been here," Lucas said, adjusting his glasses. "The founder of the school had supolatium (I really don't know how it's spelled) installed in the floor here."

"Supolatium?" Ms. Sletzki asked, looking surprised. "That's the least dense metal on the planet."

"Exactly," Lucas said.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Victor demanded, looking annoyed. Ms. Sletzki winced.

"That's the reporter who took the footage," Josie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Now let's not jump to conclusions," Lucas said nervously. "We don't really know anything about what really happened, do we?"

"I don't care about who started this," Victor snapped. "Right now I just want all those reporters off the front lawn."

"For once, I agree with you," Josie said. "We were thinking a temporary distraction. Try and give the press a more interesting story, or something."

"Actually, I've been thinking about that," Z said, standing up from his desk. "Josie, do you remember when we needed to get the kids to leave the school because it was going to disappear?"

Josie grinned, while Principal Durst looked horrified. "When we pretended our skin was turning green."

"The school was going to disappear?" Principal Durst asked. "Oh my. I should probably go to make sure everything's okay out … somewhere else." She quickly left the room. Josie resisted a chuckle at this, and both she and Lucas exchanged amused looks.

"This sounds like something I should have been informed about when it first happened," Victor said, looking sharply at Vaughn once again.

"There's a lot of stuff you haven't been informed of," Josie said. "And with good reason."

"Josie," Lucas said nervously. "Now's not really the time to start a debate with Victor."

"That's Mr. Pearson," Victor growled.

"Right. Sorry," Lucas said. Then he cleared his throat. "I think we should sort of play off that angle of what Z mentioned earlier."

"What do you mean?" Vaughn asked.

"Well, what if we went out there painted green? And then we tell them that the fumes are leaking out onto the grounds. If they don't leave, they'll be turned green," Lucas said. Zachary nodded his head happily.

"It won't work," Ms. Sletzki said.

"Why not?" Josie asked.

"They'll know you're trying to get them off the grounds," Ms. Sletzki explained. "And besides, they'll recognize you from the video."

"Yeah," Vaughn said. "But what if you went along with it? And I can get some of my friends to do the green thing."

"What are you talking about?" Victor demanded.

"That's an excellent idea, Vaughn," Professor Zachary said, stepping into the center of the room.

"I don't get it," Ms. Sletzki said. "Why would me turning green help?"

"Because you would be one of them," Lucas explained. "It would just be possible proof that something was happening."

"Perhaps enough to get them off of our case for a little bit," Josie added.

Victor frowned. "And then what? Do you have a plan for after that?"

"On thing at a time," Josie said. "Vaughn, you'd better get a couple of kids willing to be turned green. Ms. Sletzki, maybe you should come with me. This better work."

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"I'll bet you it's a bomb," Marshall grunted.

Corrine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "It's not a bomb, Marshall. It's just a rock. I wonder why it's so important, though."

"I say we just leave it there," Marshall replied. He leaned against the door. "And after that we can work on finding a way out of here before the janitor comes back."

"There isn't any way out," Corrine said, looking at him. "We've been through this six times already."

"So let's make it seven. Tell me again why we can't get out of here."

This time Corrine did roll her eyes. "We're trying to make the best of a difficult situation, Marshall." She put the rock back on the table, and turned away.

Marshall's eyes widened in disbelief as a piece of the rock lifted up and a red laser beam prepared to shoot out … right at -.

"Corrine!" Marshall exclaimed, pushing her onto the bed just as the beam shot where she had been standing. After a moment Corrine and Marshall both looked up at the slight scorch mark on the floor. Corrine blinked.

"Marshall, I think that rock had been meant to kill someone," Corrine said.

"Kill?" Marshall squeaked. "Why would anyone want to kill one of us?"

"I don't know," Corrine said, pushing Marshall off and then dropping to her knees, once again examining the rock. "This is a machine," She said after a moment.

"I think we established that when it tried to _kill_ you!" Marshall exclaimed.

"Well, if that was what it was meant to do, then I can see why the janitor would take it. I wonder what triggered the laser."

"You're not really going to fiddle around with that thing, are you? Do you have a death wish?" Marshall demanded.

"Marshall, you're being ridiculous. I'm going to be careful. Besides, I held it before, and nothing happened," Corrine said.

Marshall crouched down beside her. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, okay?" He took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. She squeezed back. "You're not going to have to worry. I'll be careful. We'll approach it like any scientist approaches something out of the ordinary, okay?"

"Okay, okay," Marshall said. "We'll try and figure this thing out. What do we do first?"

"Perhaps we should look it over again," Corrine said, cautiously picking it up. "I must have hit something to activate it the first time. I wonder what it could have been."

"Whoa, I don't think so," Marshall said, taking the rock out of Corrine's hands. "Maybe I should check it over, first."

Corrine gave Marshall an annoyed look, and then shrugged. "Fine."

Marshall looked at the machine, turning it sideways. "What I don't get is how it got in the science lab in the first place. And why was Durst so sure it was Josie's?"

"Let's take one thing at a time," Corrine said. "I'm sure once we figure out what this thing does; the rest will come with it."

"Do you think the janitor left it there for Josie?" Marshall asked, now looking at Corrine instead of the machine. Corrine met his gaze.

"I don't know. But after what happened today, what can we be sure of?"

Marshall went to turn the rock in his hand, his fingers running across a smooth bit of granite at the bottom. The little thing popped up again and the laser began to thrum. Marshall dropped the machine on the ground and the two backed away, watching as the beam generated for a moment, before shooting at the floor, in the same place it had before. The wood began to singe, and then the most unexpected thing happened.

Where the beam was shooting, a wormhole opened up. It was different than the one they were used to seeing. This one was purple with green swirls.

"It's a … a wormhole," Corrine said, looking surprised.

"Should we go through it?" Marshall asked, looking to Corrine. She looked up at him.

"I'm not sure," She replied. "I mean, what if it takes us somewhere we shouldn't be?"

"But what if it could take us home? I don't know about you, but I don't want to be stuck in this basement forever," Marshall said. "I'm going." He took a few steps forward, but Corrine grabbed his wrist.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I just have this bad feeling that if we go through there, things will only get worst," Corrine said.

"It's the only chance we have, Corrine," Marshall replied. "Who knows how long the wormhole will stay open."

"Alright," Corrine said. "I really hope it takes us home."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Marshall asked. Corrine shrugged, and the two jumped through the wormhole. It waited a moment, and then pulled the device through as well. After that it closed up behind them, leaving the room empty again.

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Josie peered out from the curtains at the reporters just standing around outside. Then she looked back where Stu and several other football payers stood next to Vaughn, green as if they were aliens. Josie let the curtain fall and looked to Lucas who still held her hand comfortingly.

"I hope this works," She said.

"Don't worry … it worked last time," Lucas reassured her.

"I don't get why we're doing this," Stu said.

Josie looked at him. "It's just to sort of scare the reporters away," She said.

"But aren't reporters a good thing?" Stu asked.

"Yeah, they give us athletes the attention we need from scouts," Another football player said.

"These aren't good reporters," Josie replied. "They're not going to help you to get into any good colleges. They just want to bring down our school and make it look bad."

"Well why's that bad? We might get out of classes," Stu said.

Josie and Lucas exchanged a look. "Its bad, Stu," Lucas said slowly, "Because college scouts won't want students from a preparatory academy with a bad reputation that those reporters will give our school."

Stu was silent for a few moments, and then he threw his hands in the air. "You heard the geek! We've got to try and help the school!"

"Yea!" The other football players exclaimed, butting heads.

"I don't see Ms. Sletzki," Vaughn said, peering out the window.

"She's over by the side entrance with Z," Josie explained. "Waiting for Stu and the others to make their grand entrance."

"Dude, green is so not your color," One of the football players said to Stu.

"Are we almost ready?" Lucas asked, turning back to Josie and Vaughn.

Josie frowned, looking out the window once again. "Yeah, I think so. Now we're just hoping to chase most of them off. No doubt there will be some who stick around, but most should head out."

"So let's get this over with, then," Stu said, clapping his hands.

"Alright, you guys are going to come around from the back door. Toss the ball around or something," Josie instructed. "Act like you don't even notice you're green. Remember, when they ask you what happened, tell them that the science room is leaking fumes that are turning the students green, okay? And that it will probably spread to them if they stick around."

"Got it," Stu said. "Come on guys; let's get this thingy over with." The group set out around back, leaving Vaughn, Josie, and Lucas. Vaughn let out a loud sigh.

"Any ideas as to what we're going to do about my Dad?" He asked.

"This is too big for us," Josie admitted, although she didn't want to. "We're probably going to need his help if we're to get this whole mess fixed."

"What if we still can't trust him?" Lucas asked.

"I didn't say we were going to let him in on everything. He wants the same thing we want," Josie said. "That should be enough to make us partners for now. After that we'll have to come up with something."

"If this plan works, what are we going to do to get them away permanently?" Vaughn asked.

"We're going to get Corrine and Marshall back, and pass the whole thing off as a fake," Josie said.

"That's it?" Lucas asked with disbelief.

"What else can we do?" Josie demanded. "We stopped this from happening before, but we can't prevent it once it's already happened."

"What about the janitor?" Lucas asked. "Maybe he'll know something."

"I couldn't find him anywhere," Josie replied. "I think we may be alone on this one."

"Then we're going to have to do the best we can," Vaughn said. "And hope it works."

"Here goes nothing," Josie said. The three peered out the window.


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Professor Zachary watched as Stu and the other jocks raced around the front of the school, simply tossing a football around. After a few moments people began to stop and watch as the green boys seemed oblivious to what was going on.

One of the reporters approached Stu, and he backed up. "Hey, man, you don't want to get too close, it's contagious," He said.

The other reporters began to flock closer, anxious to find out what he meant. The footfall players were surprisingly convincing actors, starting off with how they just wanted to hang out, why couldn't they be left alone, to actually being 'tricked' into admitting that gaseous fumes had been released by accident, and were turning the students green.

"It's almost your turn," Z said, looking back at a green Ms. Sletzki. She laughed nervously.

"So, explain to me again when you had to do this before?" She asked.

Z grinned in reply. Before he could say anything, Josie, Lucas, and Vaughn came running up.

"Hey, I think it's almost time she got out there," Josie said, gesturing to the flustered crowd. "This can only work for so long."

"I've got it," Ms. Sletzki said, quickly starting for the door. She looked back nervously. "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck," The group chorused. Ms. Sletzki stepped out and Josie frowned. "You're going to need it."

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Vaughn blinked in surprise. "I think it's working," He said.

The others came to look out the window, to see that indeed, reporters were backing off the premises.

"Thank you!" Josie exclaimed. "That's one less thing to worry about." She watched as Stu and the football player, and Ms. Sletzki came in, laughing. Ms. Sletzki grinned.

"I can't wait to get this green stuff off," She said, brushing at her face.

"You can use my and Corrine's bathroom," Josie said. "It washes off with water. Come on, I'll show you."

"Thanks," Ms. Sletzki said. She looked past Josie to Professor Zachary. "I'm so sorry, about all of this."

"I know," he said, nodding his head lightly. "Don't worry too much on it now."

She grinned, and quickly followed Josie up the stairs.

"Is it just me," Lucas said, turning to Vaughn. "Or is he … and she …?"

"Some things even science can't explain," Vaughn said with a laugh. Then he went with Stu and the other. Lucas looked at Professor Z.

"We should probably contact Mr. Pearson," Professor Z stated. "He'll want to know of what's been happening."

"You work on that," Lucas said. "I'm going to try to see if I can get the wormhole to work … to bring Marshall and Corrine back."

"Be careful, Lucas," Professor Zachary warned. "We don't need to lose one more person."

"I will. I think I'm just going to study the wormhole," Lucas replied.

"Alright, well I'll be in there as soon as I get off the phone with Victor," Noel replied.

"Professor Z, we can trust Victor, right?" Lucas asked.

"We're going to have to, Lucas. We don't really have a choice, and he seems to be our only ally right now," Z answered.

Lucas nodded. "I thought as much. I'll se you soon, then."

Professor Zachary nodded and started away.

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"It won't keep them away for long," Ms. Sletzki said, rubbing her hair vigorously through the towel. She stepped into the room to see Josie laying on her bed, staring at Corrine's. She slowly stopped. "You shared your room with your friend, right? Corrine?"

"No one's ever been gone this long," Josie replied, looking at Ms. Sletzki. "I guess I'm just worried."

Ms. Sletzki sat down next to her on the bed. "I think I understand how you feel."

Josie looked at her incredulously, and Ms. Sletzki let out a nervous smile. "Alright, so none of my friends were pulled into a wormhole. But when I was your age, my best friend went missing for three days. It turned out she'd just gotten lost in the woods and twisted her ankle. But those whole three days I was worried about her. I mean, she went hiking all the time. Now, you said this has happened before, so you know it's not dangerous."

"It's only dangerous if you get stuck," Josie said, which I'm afraid may have happened.

"They're intelligent kids, aren't they? I'm sure they could find their way out if they needed to."

"I guess so," Josie said. "I mean, there's less likely a chance of getting stuck now that we know more about it than we did before."

"I'm sure it will turn out alright," Ms. Sletzki said. She took in a deep breath. "Look, I know you resent me for all of this happening."

"Sort of," Josie admitted.

"I just want you to know that I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Really," Ms. Sletzki said.

"I guess it doesn't really matter how it started," Josie said, standing up. "Its how we're going to finish it. We should probably try and find Lucas and Z."

"Josie!" Lucas exclaimed running into the room.

"Lucas?" Josie asked, seeming surprised.

"Where's Mr. Bunnypants?" He asked.

"Huh?" Josie asked.

"Mr. Bunnypants, where is he? Professor Z and I are planning to do some experiments with the wormhole, and we need a test subject. Victor agreed to do some test runs at his lab in case it gets the wormhole to open up," Lucas explained.

"Oh," Josie said slowly. She picked Mr. Bunnypants off of Corrine's bed and tossed it to Lucas. "Can I come?"

"Not a good idea," Lucas replied. "Professor Z doesn't want too many people involved."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Josie demanded.

"Try research," Lucas said. "Z thinks we need a better understanding of the wormhole if we're going to fix everything. He already sent Vaughn to go help Victor. See if he can get anything out of him and stuff."

"Spying?" Josie asked, looking excited.

"Not spying. We're partners now, Josie," Lucas pointed out. "I never thought I'd say anything like that, but for now we have to work together."

"I know, I know," Josie said. "But it still doesn't change what I think of him."

"I didn't think it would," Lucas said.

"If Marshall and Corrine come back, you'll let me know, right?" Josie asked.

"Of course," Lucas said. "The moment they came through."

"You should get to work," Ms. Sletzki said. "Noel's probably waiting for you."

"Right. Here goes nothing," Lucas said. He turned and walked out of the room. Josie looked at Ms. Sletzki.

"Do you … know Professor Z?" She asked.

The woman looked surprised. "Well, we only just met yesterday."

"And you call him Noel?" Josie said, looking amused.

"Well, I …" Ms. Sletzki flustered, her cheeks beginning to burn. Josie grinned.

"Let's get to work then, shall we?" She asked, moving quickly out the door. Ms. Sletzki slowly followed after her. "We should probably check with Principal Durst. Explain a bit of the situation to her. Not everything, of course. She most likely doesn't want to know. Just tell her something like … we need to do research on the school to find a way to keep the press away, or something."

"Good idea," Ms. Sletzki said.

The two started down the hall, and it wasn't long before Josie had to stop Ms. Sletzki from tripping over the carpet.

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"This doesn't look like Professor Z's office," Marshall said.

"Over here," Corrine said, quickly pulling Marshall behind a rack of lab coats. "Do you know where we are?"

"I have a slight guess," Marshall said. "So new theory: the wormhole doesn't bring us to places in time; it takes us to … other places in the same time? So this is Pearadyne Labs. It's actually kind of cool."

"With people in it? Of course it is. You should have been here when it was just me and Vaughn," Corrine said.

"Thank you for reminding me of that _horrible_ time," Marshall snapped.

Corrine rolled her eyes. "Let's stay focused. We have to find a way out of here. Then we can focus on when we are," She said. She took in a few deep breaths, and looked around. "Alright, if I remember correctly, there's an elevator right over there that leads into Pearson manor."

"Well how are we going to go over there if there's a bunch of people hanging around?" Marshall demanded.

"I don't know," Corrine replied. "Wait, is that a clock over there?"

"I think so," Marshall said. "It's almost One PM. Why?"

"Well, hopefully there will be a lunch break," Corrine said. "And if I figure correctly, it should be coming up soon."

"Great, I'm starved," Marshall said.

"Not for us, for them," Corrine said.

Marshall let out an annoyed sigh. "When we get out of here, we better get some food."

"Let's worry about that later, alright?" Corrine asked, looking around the corner. "First we have to get out of here without being noticed."

"Maybe if we put on these lab coats, we'll blend in," Marshall suggested. "Just long enough to get around without them noticing."

"Maybe," Corrine said. They crouched down quickly as a couple walked past.

"Really, Sarah. I'm sure we're all set for tomorrow. All the tests have been done, all the equipments ready," A black haired man said as he past by with a blond woman.

"That's Victor," Corrine said with surprise.

"Really?" Marshall asked, sitting up to get a better look just as another group was coming down the hall. "Hey, isn't that -."

"Josie's Mom," Corrine said, sounding surprised. She was walking with a couple of other lab assistants. Marshall frowned.

"Professor Z?" He asked.

"He did say he worked for Pearadyne," Corrine said. (Just a note, Jim Rapsas did say that it was supposed to be revealed that Z knew Sarah and Kelly, but the scene had to be cut from Conclusions.) "Still … it seems as if he was involved in the time travel project."

The couple shared a confused glance. "Why wouldn't he tell us about it? If he knew what was really going on, then -."

"Maybe he didn't know," Marshall interrupted. "Maybe he did work here, but he wasn't involved directly on the time travel project?"

"I hope so," Corrine said. Just then a loud bell went off. "What's that?"

"I think it's that lunch bell you mentioned," Marshall said.

A bunch of other people began along the hallway, probably moving towards the cafeteria or wherever it was that they had lunch. Corrine watched the flood of people, and then quickly took a coat off the hanger, handing it to Marshall.

"Put this on," She instructed.

"Bossy much? Alright, I'm putting it on." The two quickly pulled on lab coats and joined with the masses, moving down the hall. "Just act like you're one of them. Sure, I'm not a teenager. I look old enough. You know, if you had told me we had to pretend to be adults, I would have gotten a fake beard or something."

"The elevator is right around here," Corrine said.

"And she doesn't even listen to me," Marshall said. Corrine smirked.

"I'm listening. But I'm also trying to remember. Alright, over here." She took his hand and moved him to a corridor where no one was. They received a few curious glances but soon no one noticed them.

"I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have woken up this morning," Marshall muttered.

"Hopefully we'll be out of her real soon," Corrine assured him.

"That janitor was right. We should have just stayed where we were. Do you have any idea how much trouble we're probably in? Look, is that a security camera?" Marshall began to wave at it. "Hi! We came through the wormhole at the school! Can you see us?"

"Marshall!" Corrine exclaimed. "Are you losing it?" She glanced at the camera, gave a nervous smile, and quickly hit the 'up' button on the elevator.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to make light of this situation. If we have any luck, we'll be out of here before anyone realizes differently," Marshall replied.

"I hope so," Corrine said. The elevator opened up and the two climbed inside, Corrine quickly hitting the second floor button.

"Where does this lead to, again?" Marshall asked.

"The Pearson's house," Corrine explained. "But I don't think anyone is going to be up there."

"Right." Marshall quickly took off the lab coat and hung it on a hook.

"What are you doing?" Corrine asked.

"Well isn't it likely that Victor has monitors? It would be suspicious if people in lab coats walked through," Marshall explained.

"It would be even more suspicious if we weren't wearing lab coats," Corrine said. Marshall shrugged, and Corrine reluctantly peeled off the coat, hanging it on a hook just as the elevator door opened into Victor's private office.

The two quickly stepped out.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Marshall said, taking Corrine's hand just as the phone on Victor's desk began to ring. The two looked at it nervously.

"If we hurry, no one will know we're here," Marshall said.

"The phone ringing will draw attention," Corrine exclaimed. "What do we do?"

"Make it stop!" Marshall said as footsteps began to sound outside the room.

Corrine, panicked, and picked up the phone, putting it to her ear. "Hello?" She asked uncertainly.

"Mr. Pearson?" Asked the familiar voice of Principal Durst.

"It's Durst," Corrine said, eyes wide in surprise.

"Say you're Victor's secretary!" Marshall suggested.

"Uhh … Corrine Wheeler, speaking," Corrine said. Marshall grinned.

"That sounds good," He said. Corrine gave him a slightly annoyed look.

"Um, Victor Pearson's secretary?"

"Oh, I wasn't aware he'd hired a new one yet," Durst said, sounding surprised.

"Can I help you?" Corrine asked.

"Yes, could you inform Mr. Pearson that his regular will not be able to make it today? She's fallen ill, and is unable to leave her dorm room. And quite unfortunately, I couldn't find any other students willing," Principal Durst said into the phone.

"Yes, I'll tell him that. Okay, good bye." Corrine hung up and looked at Marshall.

"What was that about?" Marshall asked.

"Principal Durst said something about the regular not being able to make it, because she was sick," Corrine explained.

"What does that mean?" Marshall asked.

"I don't know," Corrine replied.

"I hope you're ready to begin -." Sarah Pearson stopped where she was and looked from Marshall to Corrine. "Where's Stacy?"

"Stacy?" Marshall asked.

"Did Amanda Durst send you over?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Marshall said, exchanging a look with Corrine. "Your regular has a cold. We're her … replacement?"

"Two of you?" Sarah asked, looking the two over.

"The more the merrier," Corrine said.

"I suppose so," Sarah said.

"I'm Marshall. This is Corrine."

"Nice to meet you. I'm sure you already know who I am. I'm glad to see Principal Durst was able to find substitutes." She stopped and glanced at the clock. "Well, he's up in his room. If you'll follow me."

"He?" Marshall asked as the two followed Sarah up the stairs.

"Now I'm not sure how much Principal Durst told you, so I'll try to cover the basics. He's usually rather well behaved, but sometimes he can be rather fussy."

"Does _he_ have a name?" Marshall asked.

"Vaughn. I'm surprised Principal Durst didn't tell you that, at least," Sarah said, stopping to look back at the two. "You two have babysat before, haven't you?"

"Babysat?" Marshall squealed.

"Every child's different, Mrs. Pearson," Corrine said quickly. "It's best to know everything about each one in advance."

Sarah smiled warmly. "Yes, that's true." She turned back and continued down the hall.

"Vaughn?" Marshall whispered. "She thinks we're here to baby-sit _Vaughn_?"

"It could be much worst," Corrine replied.

"When he wakes up be sure to feed him from his bottle. You'll find several of them downstairs in the fridge. Just heat them up a little, alright?" Sarah asked.

"Sure, no problem," Corrine said.

"Is there anything else?" Sarah asked herself. Then she nodded. "I suppose it's time you meet him. Right through here, then."

She pushed open the door to reveal a beautifully decorated baby's room, the crib in the center.

"Be sure to be quiet," Sarah warned as the three stepped into the room. "We don't want to wake him."

"Of course," Corrine said. The three gathered around the little crib where young Vaughn was sleeping peacefully. Sarah smiled warmly at his son.

"He's so cute," Corrine said.

"Corrine!" Marshall gaped. "I thought you liked me?"

Sarah looked at him with curiosity, and Corrine blinked. "Let's not talk about this right now, Marshall," She finally said.

"I knew there was something up when you two were stuck together," Marshall muttered.

"He's a baby!" Corrine exclaimed.

"Is there something I'm … missing?" Sarah asked, seeming confused.

"We left a Vaughn back at school," Marshall said.

"I see," Sarah replied.

"Sarah?" Victor asked as he entered the room. "Where's Stacy?"

"She's sick, apparently. Amanda sent Corrine and Marshall over, instead," Sarah explained.

"We're grateful for your help," Victor said.

"Now if you need either of us, you can simply contact us by the phone number on the fridge. We'll be back around eight tonight," Sarah said.

"You're going to be at work, right?" Corrine asked.

Sarah and Victor exchanged surprised glances. "Principal Durst didn't tell you anything, did she?" Sarah asked.

"Well, not much, really. Just that she needed someone to go over to the Pearson's house," Corrine said.

"Yeah, she said it would be a great chance for our community service projects," Marshall added.

"Oh," Sarah said.

"Yes, we're going to be at work. Stacy, our usual sitter, works after her classes. We have another sitter who comes in while we work in the morning," Victor explained.

"Well we're looking forward to getting to know your son," Corrine said.

"We should be heading back down, then," Victor stated, wrapping his arm around Sarah's waist. "Is there anything else they need to know?"

"No, I'm sure that covers it," Sarah said.

"Have fun at work," Corrine called after them.

The door closed, and after a beat Marshall turned to Corrine.

"Can this day get any worst?" He asked.

"Once Sarah and Victor return, we'll have a good excuse to go back to Blake Holsey. Until then we have to watch Vaughn."

"Come on, Corrine. You really want to spend the day watching Vaughn? As a baby?" Marshall demanded.

"Look at him, though," Corrine said.

"Well, he is kinda cute," Marshall said. Then he made a face. "That's gross! He's one of my friends! Ugh."

"Well if you'd never suggested we go through that wormhole -."

"That _you_ activated," Marshall countered.

Corrine sighed. "Look, let's not think of him as Vaughn. Just a baby that needs to be taken care of."

Marshall was silent for a few moments, staring at the baby, and then he looked at Corrine, frowning. "He even _looks_ like Vaughn."

AN: Ah, the calm before the storm, mwahahahaha. Anyhoo, hope you guys liked the update! I hope to have another chap up by next week (keep your fingers crossed!) Please continue to REVIEW! It's what keeps me going!


	7. Chapter 6

AN: Attention to anyone who's reading. This does contain some references to the Strange Days movie, 'Conclusions'. I'd like to say that those specific plot lines do not belong to me. Thanks.

CHAPTER SIX

_Naturally_, _when the lead story on the news is about a boarding school that seems to feature a wormhole among other strange things, well, it causes attention. Not only to parents, but to other people. Perhaps not the best of people, either._

A sleek black limousine pulled up in front of Blake Holsey Prep where only three hours prior swarms of cameramen and news reporters had been. It stopped by the front door of the school. After a few moments, the car door opened and a young man stepped out, looking over the scenery.

"It's interesting to be back," He said, lifting a pen to his lips thoughtfully. On the other side of the car another man stepped out as well.

"I'm sure Principal Durst will be delighted to see you've returned for a visit, Tyler," The man said, stepping up next to the teen. He gestured for the driver to go, and he did so, leaving the two alone in front of the curious boarding school. The dark boy grinned wickedly as the man started up the steps.

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When they opened the door to Principal Durst's office, they could see her on the phone, trying to explain to a parent the happenings of that morning. When she caught sight of Tyler, however, she dropped the phone, causing him to grin again.

"Hello, Principal Durst," He said.

"Tyler?" Principal Durst asked, looking surprised. She quickly picked up the phone, apologized, and hung up. Then she stood, looking the boy over.

Tyler glanced at his companion as soon as Durst turned to him. "This is my mentor, Mr. Avenir."

"Hello," Mr. Avenir said with a little bow. "Tyler here insisted upon a visit to his old school, and so I agreed to accompany him."

"I – but," Principal Durst spluttered. Then she composed herself. "I'm sorry we don't seem to have the time to greet you properly, but as I'm sure you're aware, we have a slight situation on our hands."

Tyler cocked his head while Avenir looked suddenly interested. "Situation?" Avenir questioned. "I'm sorry, Principal Durst, but is there something amiss?"

"You mean you haven't heard on the news, or …"

"Tyler and I set out early this morning to make our journey here. As you know, it's quite a long drive," Avenir said. "Why, what has been happening?"

"I might as well tell you," Durst muttered under her breath. "The school is in an uproar. Yesterday afternoon two of our prominent students, Marshall Wheeler and Corrine Baxter, went missing. A reporter visiting to science offices happened to catch some sort of vortex pulling the two of them through the floor on tape, and it's all over the press."

"There didn't seem to be any press outside," Avenir said.

"That's because some of our students concocted a plan to scare them off for now," Durst explained just as the phone began to ring. She sighed. "I'm sorry, but as you can see I'm very busy -."

"Of course, of course," Avenir replied, stepping towards the door. "Tyler and I shall just wander the grounds for a bit, while you handle this. No doubt it brings tremendous stress upon you. Come, Tyler."

The two stepped out the door and into the practically empty hall. "This is perfect," Avenir said after a moment. "Everything seems to be coming together nicely. With Durst preoccupied with the press and angry parents, it will be much easier to get our hands on the wormhole."

"We still have to worry about the science club," Tyler replied. "They could be too dangerous to the project."

"I'll leave it to you to distract them. Your appearance should be enough to keep them busy," Avenir replied. "We just need some time to permanently activate to science room."

"So there really is something weird going on," A voice said from behind the two. They turned to see a boy, maybe a year younger than Tyler. He was watching Avenir and Tyler closely. After a moment Avenir grinned.

"You're Collin, aren't you?" He asked, walking up to the boy.

"How'd you know?" Collin Bush asked, seeming surprised. Tyler also looked surprised. Avenir had never mentioned anyone named Collin before.

"Collin, this is my associate, Tyler," Avenir said quickly. "He and I are working on a very big project that has to do with what's happening in the Science Room lately."

"You know about those kids disappearing?" Collin asked.

"Yes, we do. In fact, we could find a way to bring them back," Avenir said.

Collin scoffed. "I don't want those losers coming back," He said darkly. "They're always acting secretive and stuff, like they knew something we didn't."

Avenir grinned. "Well how would you like to become a part of that secret, Collin?"

The boy looked him over curiously. Tyler turned to Avenir.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Later," Avenir snapped.

"Does this have anything to do with what they're talking about on the radio?" Collin asked.

Avenir laughed. "Why don't you join us for a stroll, Collin?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, and then walked up to them, the three moving quickly down the hallway.

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Professor Z sighed, wiping tiredly at his eyes. "It seems as if the wormhole is being stubborn today," He said, looking to Lucas.

Lucas put down the chalk in his hand. "So we've gotten Mr. Bunnypants to go through the wormhole a total of five times. Once it's arrived in 1887, twice at the accident at Pearadyne, and twice in 1979. They seem to be the key points on the wormhole," Lucas explained.

Professor Z stood, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if it would be possible to commune which time to travel through to."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"Well what if there was a way of controlling the wormhole?" Professor Z inquired. "A way to somehow … _choose_ where Mr. Bunnypants would go."

"How?" Lucas asked.

Professor Z was silent for a few moments, and then he snapped his fingers. "What if we tried to influence the wormhole. The more we focus on a certain tunnel, then perhaps the -."

"Easier it will be to choose a destination," Lucas finished. "Great idea, Professor Z. Let's try it during the next test."

Z nodded and then glanced out the window. Lucas followed his gaze. "It seems as if the plan worked better than we'd thought."

"Yes," Z said quietly. "But anything like our situation could bring out even worst than just the press. We don't know who will be next."

He and Lucas exchanged nervous glances.

AN: Well, I gotta apologize for this chap, guys. I know it was horribly written and is really short, but i just couldn't seem to get it to go right. So, once again, sorry!


	8. Chapter 7

AN: I have to apologize a million times, guys. I know this story is probably the worst I've written, but I can't help it. It's just not going in the direction I was hoping for, so I'm sorry! Anyhoo, I'm gonna try and finish this within the next four months, so bear with me. Thanks!

CHAPTER SEVEN

"You're not going to believe it!"

Josie and Ms. Sletzki looked up with surprise as a girl ran into the library. "What's going on?" Josie asked, standing.

"The army's taking over the school is what's going on," The girl said. "We have an hour to get all our stuff together and get out of here."

"What?" Ms. Sletzki demanded.

"The army?" Josie asked. She and Ms. Sletzki exchanged uncertain looks.

"It's true!" The girls said. "I saw them pull up fifteen minutes ago."

"Move out of the way!" Someone called in a commanding voice. Two army guys marched into the room. "Out, all of you."

"What's going on?" Ms. Sletzki asked.

"We're taking over the school for human safety," The cadet said.

"Human safety?" Josie demanded. "That's bull."

"Josie," Ms. Sletzki said disapprovingly.

"This isn't about human safety. It's about controlling the wormhole!" Josie accused.

All the students backed out of the room, leaving just Josie, Ms. Sletzki, and the two soldiers. One of the soldiers looked at Josie with amusement.

"What exactly do you know about the wormhole?" He asked.

"Only what I've seen on the TV," Josie said quickly.

"Isn't that the girl that said she'd traveled through it?" The other asked.

The amused one smirked. "Well isn't that just fine. Looks like we can tell commander we found her."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Ms. Sletzki.

"Our commander has a special interest in anyone who's had direct contact with the wormhole," The one explained.

"Well you've got the wrong girl," Josie said quickly. "I told you, I just know what they've talked about on the television."

"Get her!"

"Run!" Ms. Sletzki exclaimed.

"You don't have to tell me," Josie hissed, ducking around the cadet and skidding past the other, managing to make it into the hallway.

"Come back here!" She heard one of the soldiers call after her. She ignored them, obviously, and ran down into the basement, hoping to lose them in the maze that was Blake Holsey's ground floor. After a few moments she managed to escape into a room, closing the door quietly behind her and locking it into place. Then she closed her eyes and leaned against the door, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Having a little trouble?"

Josie practically jumped out of her skin. She looked up to see the janitor sitting on his bed. "Understatement of the century. In case you haven't noticed, the school is falling to pieces."

"What did you expect, Josie?" The janitor asked. "That this would just be ignored? It's too late for that now."

"So what do I do?" Josie asked, taking a seat across from him where sixteen years in the past Corrine and Marshall discovered a strange rock. "Corrine and Marshall are missing, everyone knows about the wormhole, and now the army is taking over Blake Holsey."

"Sometimes the answers to our most difficult questions are the most obvious," The janitor said.

"Did you get that from a fortune cookie?" Josie asked accusingly. The janitor (wisely) did not respond. Josie sighed. "I just want things to go back to normal."

"You're going to have to find a way to move forward despite this situation. If you can't, then all hope is lost."

"I know," Josie said. "I just don't know if I want that responsibility. This is all just happening so fast."

"There's more at stake than just what you know, Josie," The janitor said, standing up. "And there's more going on then you know. There's someone who's out to sabotage Victor Pearson's experiments in anyway he can."

"Can't say I blame him," Josie said with a grunt.

"Victor's not the enemy you're looking for," The janitor said. "He's much closer than that."

"Who?" Josie asked.

"You should return to your friends," The janitor suggested. "While you can."

Josie looked the janitor over, before standing also, pressing her ear to the window. "Thanks," She said quietly.

The janitor nodded and then gestured for her to go.

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"Commander Holt?"

The man looked up from Principal Durst's desk, eyes darkening. "What is it, Cadet?"

"Commander, we found the girl, but she escaped. However, we did manage to capture the woman with her," The cadet said quickly.

Commander Holt looked at him with some confusion, but then nodded. "Alright, bring her in. She may have the information we're looking for," He said.

"I can let myself in, dammit," Ms. Sletzki snapped, pushing the soldiers aside. She looked the commander over, before smirking. "Lyle Holt. It's been a while."

Commander Holt looked slightly surprised. "Molly," He said. "What an interesting turn of events. So you're working with the traveler."

"It would figure you would be behind this," Ms. Sletzki said, shaking her head. "Always going after things that were better left alone. That was _always_ your problem."

"Do you two … know each other?" a soldier asked.

"She's my ex fiancée," Commander Holt said, not looking away from Ms. Sletzki. "Left me standing at the alter."

"With good reason," She snapped. "Because you couldn't stop doing stupid things like this! What are you doing here, anyways? This isn't any of your business."

"Isn't it? The discovery of a lifetime and you say it's none of my business? How convenient that you would be a part of this." He chuckled. Then he looked at the cadets. "Leave. Ms. Sletzki and I have much discussing to do."

"What?" The woman suddenly paled as the door closed shut. Commander Holt leaned over the desk, grinning madly.

"So … tell me what you know about the wormhole."

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As the two cadets stepped away from the door, one chuckled quietly to himself. The other looked at him with confusion.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"A lot of things, really," The soldier replied. "Look, I'll meet up with you in a few minutes, okay? I've got something to take care of."

"Alright," The other replied hesitantly. He turned around he corner bumping into a group of kids. The cadet stared after him, and then strolled leisurely down the hall, stopping at a door. He glanced around, before stepping inside, stretching back into Tyler. Avenir and Collin looked up.

"Where is she?" Avenir asked.

"She ran off," Tyler replied. "But I've got some news for you. The reporter, Ms. Sletzki, she knows about the wormhole. I suspect she's somehow a part of it. The army commander is pretty much holding her hostage. There's no sign of the science club, and the science room is deserted."

"Excellent," Collin said.

"Or as excellent as the situation might allow," Avenir corrected. "The army getting involved has altered my plans slightly, but no matter. Are you up for your next job, Tyler?"

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Josie cautiously closed the door behind her, before finally turning around. "Lucas?" She called hesitantly.

"Ah!" Someone cried. Two some ones, to be more specific. They jumped out from behind the closet. They were hidden by sports equipment and wielding baseball bats and a hockey stick. After a moment they stopped.

"Josie?" One asked. They pulled up their hockey mask to reveal Professor Z. The other took off the football helmet to reveal Lucas.

"Sorry," He said. "We thought you were one of those army guys."

"We can't stay here," Josie announced.

Lucas scoffed. "You think we don't know that? We've been waiting for you."

"Well I'm sorry," Josie replied. "Things were a little … complicated. The armies here, you know that, right? And they're looking for me!" She sighed. "I've been thinking, and maybe we should head over to Pearson manor."

"Josie, your speaking crazy-talk. Head over to Victor's? That's just hat he wants!" Lucas exclaimed.

"No, no," Professor Zachary interrupted. "Josie might have a good point. The army can take over this school, but they wouldn't dare intrude on Pearson's property."

"Thanks," Josie said.

"I'm going to see if we can head out through here," Zachary said, going to the window.

Josie nodded, and then looked nervously at Lucas. "I think … look, there's something else. Something about Victor."

"What?" Lucas asked, straightening up.

"Don't ask me how or why, but I think he's actually the good guy," Josie said.

"… I know you said don't ask, but how and why do you think this?" Lucas inquired.

"The janitor told me." Lucas' eyes widened. "You mean, he just … came out and told you Victor's the good guy?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but it has to be true!" Josie said. "He said there's someone else."

"The army?" Lucas demanded.

"Not exactly. I think there's someone else, someone even closer to all this than just the army. And the janitor says he's already here," Josie explained.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked with concern.

"I don't know," Josie replied. "I just – I just get this feeling, you know? I'm a little scared, Lucas."

"Well don't be," Lucas said comfortingly. "We're going to get through this. And together. No running off to do your own thing."

Josie laughed. "I don't think I could if I wanted to," She replied. "We're in too deep, now."

"Haven't we always been?" Lucas asked. Josie nodded despite herself.

"Look," Professor Zachary said, coming to their sides. "If we climb out that window, we could get to the Pearson's house without anyone noticing."

"Why can't we just use the side door or something?" Josie asked with confusion.

"The army has all doors covered," Zachary replied. "We wouldn't be able to get you out of here."

"Right," Josie said. "Well then, who's going first?"

Lucas and Zachary shared a look, and Josie sighed. "Why is it always me?"


	9. Chapter 8

An: Thanks to my lone reviewer, TriGemini

CHAPTER EIGHT

Josie looked up as Vaughn shuffled into the room. "Hey," She said quietly.

"Hey," He replied. "My, uh, my Dad wants to know exactly what it is you're working on."

"Not much," Josie admitted. "I was hoping to find some way to hack into the school computers, but it seems to only be Marshall's specialty because I can't get it to work."

"Why would you need to hack into the computers?" Vaughn asked, taking a seat across from her.

"I was hoping to learn some history on the school. Get a better idea of the history of the wormhole. I thought that maybe someone would have an explanation on how to handle all this," Josie explained.

"Maybe my Dad has the override password," Vaughn suggested.

Josie didn't say anything for a few minutes, continuously tapping numbers into the computer. Then she looked up. "How is everything going with your Dad?" Josie asked.

"I don't really know," Vaughn replied. "I haven't exactly spent more than three minutes alone with him. He's in his office now discussing his discoveries with Lucas and Professor Z. I think they're on to something."

"Really?" Josie asked, looking surprised. "Well that's one of us."

"Josie, where's Ms. Sletzki?" Vaughn asked. "Professor Z asked me to check with you."

"I can't say I know for sure," Josie finally said.

Vaughn looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the army bombarded us. I managed to get out, but I don't really know what happened to Ms. Sletzki. Truthfully? I think I forgot about her," Josie said.

"You don't know where she is? Josie, she knows our secrets!"

"I know!" Josie snapped. "I panicked!"

Vaughn sighed. "I guess we can only hope that she manages to get over here, and that the army doesn't connect her to the wormhole."

"I don't even understand why they would care about the school," He continued. "I mean, what's the big deal?"

"It's not the school, Vaughn," Josie explained. "It's the wormhole. They probably heard about it on the television and decided to take advantage of it. They said they were doing it for the safety of humanity."

Vaughn scoffed. "I doubt it."

"This could be a real problem," Josie said. "It was one thing with all the reporters. But we cannot allow anyone else to become involved with the experiments."

Vaughn nodded in agreement. Josie turned back to the screen and let out a whoop.

"What is it?" Vaughn asked, sounding hopeful.

"I cracked the password," Josie said, grinning.

"You know, I could probably check some of my Dad's records," Vaughn said. "He went to the school. So did my Grandmother."

"Really?" Josie asked with surprise. She turned to look at Vaughn.

"Yeah, it's a family tradition."

"I wonder if we could find her in the records," Josie said.

"It's Gertrude Henson," Vaughn explained.

Josie typed it in the student book, and five Henson's popped up. "There it is, Gertrude Henson." She opened the file and skimmed through it. There were copies of the girl's old schedule, and of her history. "It says here Gertrude attended Blake Holsey with her three sisters."

"Millie and Dana," Vaughn supplied.

"And that her father attended Blake Holsey as well," Josie added.

"I didn't know that," Vaughn said with surprise. He skimmed over the page. "I doubt they had anything to do with science, though. My Grandmother was a cook at this pastry shop where my Dad group up. Her sisters all went into different fields."

"Daniel Henson," Josie repeated. "It sounds familiar." She clicked on the link to Gertrude's father. The page loaded with a picture of the class of 1924. Vaughn grinned.

"Hey, that looks like Lucas," He said with a grin, pointing to the teacher standing in the background.

"No way," Josie said, shaking her head. "He looks nothing like Lucas!"

"Professor Rendle," Vaughn read. He looked at Josie. "Hmm ..."

"It's not Lucas," Josie repeated, rolling her eyes. "Look, there's Daniel Henson." She zoomed in on the picture, frowning. "Okay, that's a little creepy."

"What?" Vaughn asked, looking over her shoulder.

"It's just that he looks really familiar," Josie replied. "This was your great grandfather?"

"Yea," Vaughn said. "I don't really know much about him, though."

Josie lowered the page and accessed the internet, doing a search on Daniel Henson. She frowned when the page came up; she clicked on the first page she set eyes on. "Daniel Henson, 19 09 to 1963. Although he may seem to be the least important member of the team that worked on the creation of the nuclear bomb, this physicist -."

"Hold on," Vaughn said. "My grandfather worked on the nuclear bomb?"

"With Einstein. Cool," Josie added. She bit her lip. "Well I guess we can see where your Dad gets his brains from."

"Yea," Vaughn said.

"Hey, what's going on?" Lucas asked, stepping into the room.

"Trying to get some research done," Josie replied. "Check this out, Vaughn's great grandfather worked with Einstein on creating the first nuclear bomb."

"That explains a lot," Lucas said.

Josie gave him a semi-annoyed look, and he frowned. "I think this is an angle to pursue. What if Daniel Henson did some research on wormholes? He worked with Einstein. It's entirely possible they shared ideas."

"Maybe," Lucas said.

"How are you doing? You guys have anything?" Vaughn asked.

"Not a lot, but we have some theories," Lucas replied. "At the moment we're hesitant about testing the wormhole, or even trying to find Corrine and Marshall. They'd most likely arrive at the school, and that's something we can't do."

"Right," Josie agreed, nodding her head. "I wish there was some way to just … fix this whole mess. Why can't we just use the wormhole to go back in time?"

"For the last time, Josie," Lucas said, taking a seat next to her. "We're not about to risk losing one more person. You might get stuck again, and then what would happen?"

"I know, I just want to fix this so much!" Josie exclaimed.

"We'll fix it," Vaughn replied. "All together, we'll make sure it works out. But we have to stick together."

"And I have to agree," Lucas added.

"I know, I know," Josie said, rolling her eyes. "So what do we do next?"

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"Okay, what's that smell!" Marshall said, jumping up from where he was seated in the rocking chair. Corrine started laughing at his reaction.

"It seems the baby needs a change," Corrine replied, walking over to the crib just as Vaughn started crying.

"Change?" Marshall asked. "Change in what? Attitude?"

"Marshall, stop," Corrine said, a smirk on her face. "He needs a diaper change."

At this Marshall made a face, sort of a cross between disgust and disbelief. "Oh no. There is no way I'm changing Vaughn's diaper!"

"Then I'll do it," Corrine replied, setting the baby down on the changing table. "Relax; you're going to be all clean in a second."

"You will _not_ change that diaper, Corrine," Marshall instructed. "Do you hear me?" He quickly walked to her side. "That's just too much."

"But Marshall, the baby needs to be changed," Corrine said reasonably.

"Corrine, that's Vaughn. Do you remember that? Fellow science club member, a little slow, a football player? VAUGHN!" Marshall exclaimed.

Corrine looked him over for a minute, and then looked at Vaughn. After a moment, her face turned to disgust, and she threw her hands up, turning away. "Okay, change of plans."

"_Thank_ you," Marshall said, relaxing.

"We're going to have to do something," Corrine said, looking thoughtful. "I can't change that diaper, and neither can you. But we can't just leave him in this condition, either."

"So let's call Mrs. Pearson. I'm sure she can do it," Marshall said, looking around the room for a phone.

"No," Corrine said quickly. "We call her for something like this and she'll know something's up."

"This is ridiculous!" Marshall snapped, throwing his hands up in the air. "Out of all the things we could be stuck with, why is it that we're stuck here! Watching _him_?"

"Marshall, will you just calm down?" Corrine demanded.

"We're not supposed to be here, Corrine," Marshall replied. "Isn't that what the janitor said? So how is it that we can make it all the way here, find ourselves babysitting one of our friends? I say we go to the school and we try to get the wormhole open again."

"We can't just leave Vaughn here," Corrine countered.

"Principal Durst can watch him," Marshall replied.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Corrine asked.

"We can't stay here," Marshall replied. "We have no chance of getting back unless we're near the wormhole."

"But what about what we found out today?" Corrine countered. "About Josie's Mom and about Professor Z? What about Pearadyne?"

"What can we do about any of that?" Marshall asked.

"To let the accident happen, Marshall?" Corrine asked.

He sighed. "What can we do about that, Corrine? We can't let them know who we are."

"I know, but maybe there's something we can do. Leave a note, or something."

"Alright," Corrine said. Marshall grinned, grabbed up a piece of paper and left a quick note, explaining that Vaughn was with Principal Durst, and to be very careful on October 4 (night of the accident?). Then they took Vaughn and snuck out of the house.


	10. Chapter 9

AN: Argh! I'm sorry, guys. I've been working every day since my last update. Sorry! Oh, and I got a couple of requests at the end of "Things Just …" for future science club members to make an appearance, so here ya guys go!

CHAPTER NINE

Lucas frowned, looking back at the screen before him. "Um … I don't want to alarm anyone, but something's going on down there," He announced.

Victor moved him out of the way, staring forward. "The device has been activated,"  
He said, sounding surprised.

"What device?" Josie asked, leaning over. "The one that creates the wormhole?"

"That's not all," Lucas said. "Look. The machinery reports two people just came through the wormhole."

"Maybe its Marshall and Corrine!" Josie said, racing off. Lucas, Vaughn, and Professor Z were quick to follow. Victor only a few feet behind them.

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"That's the last time I go through the wormhole with you!" Someone snapped behind the door. Josie frowned, the voice sounding familiar. Victor approached, punching in the numbers for the lock and waiting for the door to open. When they finally slid open, two boys were sprawled across the floor. The first one, a redhead, groaned.

"Stop yer complaining," The one who landed beneath him grumbled.

Josie cleared her throat, and the two looked up, startled.

"Douglas?" Lucas asked with confusion.

"Da – eh, Lucas!" Douglas Randall (for those of you who haven't read Things Just Get Complicated pts 1&2, Douglas is Josie and Lucas' eldest son) exclaimed, sitting up and knocking the other boy off of him. "Wow, what a … a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Hey!" The other boy exclaimed as his back hit the floor.

"Oh, sorry," Douglas said, turning and helping him up.

"Douglas," Vaughn said, grinning. "Long time, no see."

"Yes, well," Douglas said, clearing his throat.

"Oh, for Pete's sake! Where are we?" The redhead brushed his clothes off, and then looked up. "Whoa –ho-ho!" he exclaimed. "Check it out! It's -."

"Josie, Lucas, and Vaughn!" Douglas interrupted. "And Professor Z. Hee. Look, Pres, the gang's all here."

Douglas' younger brother gave him a strange look. "Have you been smoking something you shouldn't be?"

"Who are these people?" Victor demanded.

Preston looked him over, eyes widening. "No way! Victor Pearson? Wow! Okay, first of all sir, let me say it's an honor -." Preston tried to shake Victor's hand, but the man pulled away with slight disgust.

"Excuse me?" He demanded.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind knowing who you are," Professor Z added. Preston blinked.

"Hey, hey, hey! Look who lost some weight!"

Douglas cleared his throat. "Umm … guys, this is my younger brother, Preston. For those of you who don't know me – or more specifically, you, Mr. Pearson, I'm Douglas. We're sort of from the future."

"Douglas and two of his friends visited last year," Professor Z explained.

"It's great to see you again!" Lucas exclaimed, shaking hands with Douglas. "Although, you chose possibly the worst time to show up."

"Why, what's going on?" Preston asked.

"Everything!" Josie exclaimed.

"Does this have anything to do with the wormhole?" Douglas asked.

"Yeah," Lucas said. "How did you know?"

"First: Anything that goes wrong has to do with the wormhole," Preston explained. Everyone nodded in agreement to this. "Second, I remember Professor Zachary telling us about this."

"Really!" Josie asked, looking hopeful. "Then that must mean that you know how to fix it!"

"Hold up," Douglas interrupted, shooting his brother a dark look. "No future-talk, remember? What are the three rules of time-travel?"

Preston rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a stiff, man. I wasn't going to tell them anything! Except that, you know, I don't really know what happened."

"You don't know?" The group chorused.

Preston shrugged. "No offense, Z, but sometimes I have to zone out on your lectures. They're a little boring."

To this, Professor Zachary blushed slightly.

"Don't listen to him, Z," Douglas said. "Preston is a little slow when it comes to _real_ things."

"How did you get here?" Victor finally demanded.

"Are you serious?" Preston asked.

"He's in shock, I think," Douglas said.

"Okay," Josie said, stepping in the middle. "I think we can establish that they came through the wormhole."

Victor narrowed his eyes. "Of course they came through the wormhole," He snapped. "But how?"

"Well, sometimes it just sort of opens up in the center of the science lab. Unfortunately, we'd gone back to try and find Jovee - our friend, when the wormhole opened up and we fell through … landing here, and now, of all places."

"Jovee's missing?" Vaughn asked, looking concerned.

"Who's Jovee?" Victor asked.

"She's another member of the science club," Preston said.

"Wait, you're a member of the science club?" Lucas asked, pointing at Preston.

"Hey, I may be young, but I know what I'm doing … half of the time, anyways."

"Did Jovee go through the wormhole?" Vaughn inquired.

"Well, we're not exactly sure where she is. She might have been just at Cheerleading practice," Douglas said, shrugging.

"He can't help it," Preston added. "He gets worried."

"Why would you get worried about Jovee?" Josie asked. "I thought you two hated each other because of an old family rivalry."

Preston snickered. "Old family rivalry?"

Douglas nudged him in the stomach. "Jovee and I get along now," He replied.

"Yeah, especially when you're making kissy-face on the couch," Preston gasped, grinning.

"Shut up!" Douglas exclaimed, his ears flushing a bright red.

"_You_ and _Jovee_?" Vaughn, Lucas and Josie chorused.

"Will everyone just stop talking?" Victor commanded. Everyone froze, looking at the intimidating man. Then Preston cleared his throat.

"Well … I never thought I'd get the chance to hear the Great Victor Pearson tell me to be quiet. I must say, it's kind of cool."

"Ignore my idiot brother," Douglas said. "He sort of … idolizes you, Mr. Pearson."

"As great as that is," Victor said, giving Preston a confused look. "You said you knew about the situation."

"Oh yeah, the situation," Preston said.

"Okay, have Marshall and Corrine returned?" Douglas asked.

"Not yet," Lucas said. "They left yesterday."

"So they will come back," Josie said, looking hopeful.

"Well, yes," Preston said. "But they have to do something, first. Remember, Josie, Everything happens for a reason." Then he grinned. "I always wanted to say that."

"You listen way too much to the janitor. But yes, there is a reason for Corrine and Marshall's disappearance, though it may not seem that way to them just yet. There's also a reason why the press received that tape," Douglas said.

"Who gave them the tape?" Josie asked.

"Well, that's debatable," Douglas said uneasily. "But the main theory you've had is that it was the Janitor."

"The Janitor," Victor repeated incredulously. He looked to Professor Zachary, who'd remained silent thus far. "The Janitor?"

Professor Zachary shrugged. "He's always sort of … there."

"He knows things he shouldn't," Josie added, looking back at the two.

"I'll say," Preston added. "And the guy never ages. What is up with _that_?"

"It's too bad he can't help us now," Douglas said.

"Why not?" Josie inquired.

"Well … he's not here. It's not exactly his _job_ to help out with this particular situation. I think he's required by his bosses or something to just stay quiet," Preston said.

"So how do we figure this whole thing out?" Josie demanded.

Preston and Douglas exchanged uncertain looks.

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Ms. Sletzki rolled her eyes and sat back. "Let it go, Lyle. I'm not telling you anything about the wormhole."

"We've been through this five-thousand times," Commander Holt snapped.

"And my answer is not changing," She replied. "If I wanted to tell you about the wormhole, wouldn't I have? You should just leave the school. You're only making more trouble for yourself."

"And how's that?" Colt asked, seeming amused.

"You really think the people are going to tolerate you taking Josie and the others hostage to learn more about some wormhole?" Ms. Sletzki demanded.

"Commander?" A timid officer poked his head into the room.

"What is it, Private?" The commander demanded.

"Well, sir. They, uh, they apparently caught the girl," The man said.

Commander Holt grinned, looking pointedly at Ms. Sletzki. "See, there? I'm sure she'll be much more useful." He got up and stepped out of the room. "Where are they keeping her?"

"Right over here, Commander," The private said, opening the door to a dark room.

"Where?" The Commander inquired as he stepped inside. Collin stepped out of a corner and pushed a rag against the Commander's mouth. After a few moments he passed out, and the Private quickly stepped inside, closing the door and transforming back into Tyler.

"That went better than planned," Tyler said, looking smug.

"What are we going to do with him?" Collin asked. "The guy must weigh five-thousand pounds."

"Don't over-exaggerate," Tyler grumbled. Together the two lifted the man up and tied him firmly into a chair. Then Tyler stretched out and morphed into the Commander. "I won't be long," He said, turning away.

A few moments later he returned to the room to see Ms. Sletzki playing with the objects on the desk.

"That was fast," She said.

"Huh?" Tyler asked. Ms. Sletzki turned to look him over.

"I said 'that was fast'. I thought you were going to talk to Josie."

"Yes, well, I figured I'd give her a few moments to herself," Tyler said, taking Principal Durst's seat.

Ms. Sletzki looked at him with vague confusion. "Right," She said slowly.

"Now, where were we?"

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"We're really sorry, Principal Durst, but we really can't watch him," Corrine explained, handing the baby back to the Principal. "It's incredibly important."

"I just don't understand," Principal Durst said, shaking her head. "Mr. and Mrs. Pearson were adamant about having a babysitter _tonight_. You can't just cancel on them."

"It's a bit difficult to explain," Marshall said. "But we can't stay here. We have to get back home."

Principal Durst looked down at the baby uncertainly. "But I don't know how to take care of children," She protested.

"You're a principal, aren't you?" Corrine asked.

"Not for babies!"

"I'm sure you'll have no problem handling it, Principal Durst," Marshall said, patting her on the arm. "It's not like you're responsible for how he behaves. Or … how he will."

Principal Durst gave him an odd look, before nodding, as if she understood what he was getting at, but that she didn't want to know anymore.

"Alright," She said, giving the baby a slight bounce. "If you must go …"

"Thanks, Durst," Marshall said. "You won't regret this."

"I hope not," Principal Durst said. Marshall and Corrine dashed out of the room, leaving Principal Durst to look down at the baby, who looked up at her. Then she winced.

"What is that smell?"

Marshall and Corrine dashed into the science lab, closing the door softly behind them. Then they approached the flooring uncertainly.

"It has to open sometime soon," Corrine said.

"It won't open." The two turned around with surprise to see Jovee Pearson (Vaughn's daughter from Preston and Douglas' future) step out of the shadows.

"Jovee?" Marshall asked with concern. "What are you doing here?"

"I got pulled into the wormhole," She said, shrugging sheepishly.

"How do you know the wormhole won't open?" Corrine asked.

"Because the wormhole doesn't connect here on this date," Jovee said. "I can't say I know a lot about the wormhole, but I know there are two specific dates where the wormhole only connect in one place."

"Why?" Marshall asked. "And where? How can we go home?"

"Believe it or not, we'd have to use the wormhole at Pearadyne," Jovee told them. "And why? Because tonight the accident will occur."

"The Pearadyne Labs accident?" Corrine gasped. "That's tonight?"

Jovee nodded. "October fourth. I've been waiting here for you guys for the past fifteen minutes."

"Wait, how did you know we'd come here? And how did you get here?"

Jovee laughed. "I came out of the wormhole here, but it won't open again. And I knew you'd come here because I'm from the future, remember?"

Marshall flushed lightly. "Oh yeah."

"So how do we get back home?" Corrine asked.

"Umm … we're going to have to use the wormhole at Pearadyne," Jovee said, wincing.

"During the accident?" Corrine demanded.

"Yeah, and we have to get going soon before it's too late," Jovee said, moving quickly to the door.

"Too late for what?" Marshall asked.

"We have to be in that wormhole before Josie comes back for Corrine, just like she did that first time," Jovee said. "Or else the disasters could be … catastrophic."

"You do realize you're doing the weird cryptic-thing again, right?" Marshall asked as the three darted down the halls. Jovee tossed him a grin.

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"Remind me again what we're doing," Marshall said.

"We're going back down to Pearadyne," Corrine repeated for the sixth time. "To warn Victor and Sarah about the accident, and to use the wormhole to get back home."

Marshall swallowed. "Right. And how do you think they're going to feel when we just barge into their labs squawking crazy talk about an accident where Sarah Pearson dies?"

"They can't get mad at us for changing their future," Corrine reasoned. "Now help me with this. How do we get the elevator to open?"

"The key's usually over here," Jovee said, feeling around on the wall with expertise and give a button a good press. The elevator doors shot open.

Corrine frowned, and then turned to Marshall. "How does she know the way to get in?" She asked.

Marshall shrugged, while Jovee blanched, quickly darting into the elevator. "Come on, guys!" She called. They quickly stepped in beside her. "Going down."

Seconds later the group stepped out of the elevator. Jovee looked around. "You guys find the Pearson's. I'll find the wormhole."

"Don't leave without us," Marshall warned.

Jovee smirked. "Why would I do that?" She asked. Then she skipped away.

"Where do we go?" Marshall asked.

"Over here," Corrine said, taking his hand and pulling him around the corner.

"How do you know where we're going?" Marshall demanded.

"I've been here before, remember?" Corrine countered.

"Right," Marshall said. "Just like you were here with Vaughn."

Corrine refrained from rolling her eyes. "Right over here." The two turned the corner to see a younger Corrine peering around a corner.

"What's going on?" Marshall asked.

"Sarah Pearson's about to erase my memory," Corrine said, just as Sarah noticed younger Corrine. The two spoke for a moment, and then Sarah erased her memory, sending the girl off in another direction. Corrine and Marshall had to dart behind a coat hanger so that younger Corrine wouldn't notice them.

"We only have about eight minutes before Josie shows up," Corrine warned.

They quickly approached the lab just as Sarah Pearson continued to set the events into motion, thoughts of home in her mind.

"No!" Corrine exclaimed, coming to her side.

Sarah looked at her, startled. "Didn't I just …? Wait, aren't you two supposed to be watching Vaughn?"

"He's with Principal Durst," Marshall explained.

"You have to get out of here," Corrine added, grabbing the woman's elbow. "This place is going to explode."

"What?" Sarah asked, just as the alarms went off. "What's going on?"

"We have to get you out of here, now. I know you want to go through the wormhole, but we can't risk it. You have to escape, now," Corrine insisted.

Sarah looked back at where she'd left Victor, and then at Corrine and Marshall. "I don't understand."

"There's no time to understand, we've got to go," Corrine insisted.

"We have all the time in the world," Sarah said, pulling away. "Please, tell me. Who are you?"

"The truth is," Corrine said with a sigh. "We're from the future. We came through the wormhole in the science lab. And we know that if you don't escape from here now, then you're going to die in this accident. Or at least vanish."

"You know my son, don't you?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Marshall admitted. "We're friends with him."

Sarah nodded. "Well, we might as well try to change this future you spoke of. But I have to got through the wormhole."

"Look, guys, I think I found it -." Jovee froze as she saw Sarah standing before her. She frowned. "Don't I know you?"

Sarah looked at Marshall and Corrine. "Another traveler?"

"She's from further in the future than either of us," Marshall said.

"We don't have time to get to know each other," Jovee said quickly, grabbing Corrine and Marshall's hands. "We have to go … now! Josie will be here any minute."

"Who's Josie?" Sarah demanded as the four moved quickly towards the wormhole.

"She's another one of our friends," Marshall explained.

"She'll be coming here for the younger me any minute," Corrine added.

"Here we are," Jovee said, punching numbers into the device and watching it move apart for them. They stepped inside.

"What are you kids doing here?" A nervous technician asked.

"They're with me," Sarah said. "You should get out of here, Robert."

"Let's go!" Jovee called over the noise. Sarah stepped up beside her.

"You three should go first," She said. Jovee nodded and the turned to her. "I'm Jovee, by the way. Jovee Pearson. See you around, grams." Then she jumped through the wormhole, leaving Sarah to smile after her. Then she quickly turned to Corrine and Marshall.

"Go!"

"You're coming with us," Corrine announced. Sarah nodded, and together the three jumped through the wormhole …

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"Look, I'm sure the wormhole's going to open up soon," Preston said, looking back at the device as it began to swirl on its own.

"Listen," Douglas said. "You have to shut down the energy of the wormhole. If you don't, then he'll control over everything. Whatever you do, you must not let him get to the wormhole."

"Who?" Josie asked.

"We gotta go," Preston said.

"Wait -," Douglas started just as Preston jumped through. "Also, you can't let whatever he says get to you, or even stop you from going through with your destiny. You must not let him win!"

"How do I stop him?" Josie asked.

"Together," Douglas said. He glanced at the wormhole. "I've said too much. See ya guys in the future!" Then he jumped through and vanished, leaving the group to stare.

"I don't understand," Josie said. There wasn't time to think on it, however, as the wormhole was still spinning.


	11. Chapter 10

AN: I'm really sorry that this chapter is such crap, guys. I just want to try and finish this so you aren't left hanging, and unfortunately, I was pushing through a writer's block on this, so … just try to follow. There are still chapter's to come, tho, so anyone still reading this, don't be disappointed!

CHAPTER TEN

"Whoa!" Marshall exclaimed as he skidded across the tiling of the device's chamber, Corrine stumbling right beside him. Josie, Lucas, Vaughn, Z, and Victor all jumped out of the way.

Corrine looked up, and nudged Marshall. "We made it!" She exclaimed, jumping up. She pulled Marshall up with her.

"Welcome back," Josie said, giving Corrine a hug.

Lucas patted Marshall on the back. "Boy, you've missed a lot."

"Yeah, you too," Marshall replied. "You'll never believe where we were."

"We have bigger fish to fry," Josie stated. "The word of the wormhole has leaked through the television, and now the school's being over run by the military!"

"What?" Corrine and Marshall exclaimed with surprise.

"How did that happen?" Marshall asked.

"There isn't much time," Lucas stated. "Something's about to happen at the school, and we have to hurry."

"Wait," Corrine said, looking around worriedly. "Where's Sarah?"

"Huh?" Josie asked, looking around for another person.

"Sarah! Sarah Pearson! She followed us through the wormhole," Corrine stated.

"That's impossible," Victor snapped. "Sarah died in the accident."

"Actually, no she didn't," Vaughn said, turning and meeting his Father's eye.

"What?" Victor asked.

Everyone looked away, slightly embarrassed by the situation.

"She didn't die in the accident, Dad. We, uh, we suspect that she actually escaped, somehow," Vaughn replied.

"She did," Marshall interrupted. "She came through the wormhole with us."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Victor asked Vaughn, looking his son in the eye.

"Dad, I -."

A loud explosion sounded outside. Everyone looked up. "What's going on?" Lucas asked, taking Josie's hand.

"They're up to something," Josie replied.

"The military?" Corrine asked.

"No," Josie said quietly, pushing out the door and down the corridor.

"Josie!" Lucas called after her.

"It's like you said, Lucas. We _don't_ have much time."

"What about Sarah?" Corrine asked, looking at the now still machine.

"We'll have to worry about that later," Josie replied. "If we don't do something now, I have a feeling we're all going to be in trouble." The five of them quickly darted off, leaving Professor Zachary with Victor Pearson.

"So, ah, all this is rather interesting, hmm?" Z asked. Victor just looked at him with a hint of annoyance.

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Corrine frowned, leaning closer to Marshall as the five of them stalked across the grounds of Blake Holsey. "Marshall," She whispered quietly. "Do you think we should tell them about Jovee?"

Marshall stiffened. "What about her?" He asked.

"About who she really is," Corrine replied.

"We don't really know if that's who she really is," Marshall argued. "And besides, even if she was … you know whose daughter; wouldn't it be risky to tell?"

"I know, but … this is something too big to keep a secret," Corrine said.

Marshall sighed, patting Corrine on the back. "Sometimes, for the good of everybody, we have to keep secrets. If only to be sure that everything turns out the way it should," Marshall assured her. Corrine nodded as Vaughn turned around.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked.

"Nothing," Corrine and Marshall said quickly, catching up with the rest of the group.

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Commander Holt - or Tyler, as we saw earlier - looked up at the explosion, as did Ms. Sletzki. Tyler grinned. So Avenir was finally putting his plans into affect …

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Josie threw open the door and stepped inside, letting Corrine, Marshall, Lucas and Vaughn follow quietly after her.

"It's like a war zone in here," Corrine said quietly.

"It's worse than that," Josie replied. The group crept through the halls, peeking around the corner to make sure no one could see them creeping about.

"Where exactly are we going?" Vaughn asked.

"To the science room," Josie replied. "We have to shut down the wormhole, like Preston and Douglas suggested."

"Wait, Douglas? Douglas was here?" Corrine asked, exchanging a look with Marshall. "Because we were with Jovee in the past."

Josie looked at her with confusion. "So she did go through the wormhole?"

"Who's Preston?" Marshall inquired.

"It's a long story," Lucas told them.

"One that I'm not sure we have time for," Josie finished.

"How exactly are we going to shut down the wormhole, though?" Vaughn demanded.

Josie frowned. "I haven't quite figured that out yet," She admitted. "But it will come to us, right?"

Lucas nodded. "No better time than the present," He replied.

"Here goes nothing," Josie said. She held her breath and pushed open the door to the science lab, only to have it pulled away from her. A man stood there, smiling darkly at the group.

"Glad you could finally show up," Avenir said. The group gawked at him with surprise.


End file.
